Rich Bastards
by Smex Lemur
Summary: Horo is an unemployed teacher. Ren needs a private teacher. Anna has a plan... poor guys. HoroRen. Complete.
1. Prologue

_**AN**: Eek, new story XD Again. I hope this one is a bit more original than 'For All The Right Reasons', I actually am quite happy with this idea… I don't know how to go through with it, though and IF I continue, it depends if people are interested in this, I suppose. _

_Anyway, I hope you leave a review after you read this :3_

_**Warning: **Again, this fic contains yaoi. _

_**Pairings: **RenHoro, YohAnna. And maybe some implied RyuLyserg xD I think they fit together, but imagining Ryu to be with ANYONE is a bit scary XD _

_**Disclaimer:** Don't own Shaman King. I do own the storyline :3 … I think xD_

**Prologue**

Horo sighed as he stepped out of the school, a disappointed look on his face as he unlocked his car and headed home. Again, he had not been hired and it was depressing. Though he had graduated from school with reasonably high grades, he just couldn't find a job.

This was his ninth interview with a school's vice-principal. He had said that he was qualified to teach, though they were searching for someone with more experience and someone perhaps a bit older, as he was only twenty-two years old and had never _really _taught in front of a class. Maybe he should start aiming on some of the lower rated schools? They would pay less, but perhaps they would hire him. Of course, the chances were slim and, to be honest, he was getting tired of going on an interview time after time and getting rejected all the same. If they didn't want someone so young, they shouldn't have even _called _him for an interview.

Damn bastards.

His scowl grew as he quickly drove to Funbari Onsen, a hotel which was owned by two of his friends; Yoh and Anna. They were both married, arranged, but seemed to love each other. Horo had always liked Anna, though he feared her all the same. She could be rather scary, but loved Yoh a lot- she trusted him and cared for him and pushed him to do things. If she wasn't around, her husband would never make any money and would probably end up homeless on the street. It was a good thing she was there, making him do chores.

Yoh loved her in return, even though you wouldn't see it by the way he always cowered in fear for her whenever she was around. He had told Horo once that he couldn't imagine living without her anymore- sure, it wouldn't be as troublesome as living _with _her, but it would surely be a boring and lonely existence. Besides, she was good looking, could cook pretty well and didn't ask anything… very unreasonable of him. That and she always let friends of him stay over whenever they wished, provided they would clean their own rooms and make their own food.

He parked his car and stepped out, sighing and loosened the tie around his neck. He lived at the Funbari Onsen currently, as he had no money for his own apartment. Anna and Yoh had welcomed him happily as always- Yoh was happy to have a friend staying over. If it were up to him, Horo could stay there until he died, but, unfortunately, it wasn't up to him. Anna was pushing Horo to look for a job so he could move out again. Horo sighed again- Anna would throw a fit if she knew he was, once again, rejected. He'd probably have to clean the hot spring or something.

"Horo!" Yoh said as Horo entered the living room. He was listening to some music, as usual, and lying on the couch. As usual. "So? How did it go?" The Ainu sighed and looked at his friend, a look of disappointment on his face. "Ah, you didn't get hired? Well, no worries, because Anna found a good job for you! Well, I think it's good- she said something about you getting to live there…" Yoh tapped his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling. Horo's face immediately brightened with curiosity.

"Indeed I have," both boys looked startled as they saw Anna standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall and her arms crossed. "Yoh's family are friends with the Tao's, a Chinese family. They've recently moved to Japan and are looking for a private tutor for their seventeen year old son," she said, rather disinterested. "I've managed to put in a good word for you and, after modifying your résumé a bit, they've decided to hire you. They'll be calling later today." Horo blinked. Private tutor? Modifying a résumé? This could go wrong in so many ways. "They're very rich, so they'll pay you a lot of money and you get to live at their mansion for free. You'd better thank me for this Horokeu," she added. Not that she did it entirely for him, but also for herself and Yoh- a baby was on the way and she wanted to spend some remaining time with her husband, before she had to give her full attention to their newborn. Of course, she hadn't told Horo yet- they decided to keep it a secret for a while (at least, Anna had decided that).

"Thanks Anna, you're the best," Horo said, a grin on his face. Even though he actually wasn't very comfortable with the idea of tutoring at such a place- what if they found out that he wasn't qualified to tutor their son? That he didn't have a lot of experience?

He shrugged. It was a job- besides, he was entitled to have some luck now and then. And how bad could it be?

--

"This is bad. This is very bad. Bad, bad, bad."

HoroHoro, a simple Ainu-boy with hardly any money, stood in front of one of the biggest. Mansions. E-V-E-R. He shrugged and was ready to step back into his car, forget that it had ever happened and move on with his life. Maybe he could get a job at the local Chinese restaurant or something, as a delivery boy; anything to get himself out of this mess.

But, unfortunately for him, the door opened at that point, revealing a neatly dressed butler, who stopped him before he could even drive away.

"Ah, mister Usui, the family has been waiting," he said and grabbed the poor Ainu's arm, practically dragging him inside the house. The mansion was slightly on the dark side, giving it a creepy feel to it- inside the hallway, Horo saw several paintings of people hanging on the walls, carpets of China gracing the floor, the ceiling actually being held up by pillars.

Damn rich bastards.

Horo scowled as the butler took his jacket and suitcase and then guiding him through the hallway, still half-dragging him actually, and though other various halls, before entering a big room. It looked like a dining-room- a big, long and wooden table standing in the middle of it, a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The only thing that seemed kind of off was the fireplace at the other end of the long room. Only until the man spoke, he noticed him sitting at the head of the table.

"Mr. Usui, I presume?" he asked. The man, though he seemed to be quite cheerful, had a certain creepiness surrounding him. Horo immediately compared him to the house; it had a nice exterior, but once inside it was totally different- a darker side, if you will. At Horo's nod, he gestured the boy to sit down on the chair next to him. The Ainu complied and sat, folding his hands on his lap. "So. Ren will be here shortly. Unfortunately, you can't meet his father and mother today as they are out on a business meeting," he said, which made Horo feel at least a bit better. He hated meeting new people, in a new house. Especially people who were as rich as they were and people who he was actually deceiving. Well, technically, Anna was deceiving them… he could always use that if someone found out about it. "Ah, I believe that that's him," the old man said as he heard a knocking sound and nodded towards another door, opposite of the one Horo had entered with.

Horo looked back and saw the door opening. He gaped as he saw what entered- a short boy, though muscled, with the most beautiful face he had ever seen. He had yellow eyes, almost cat-like one, his hair a deep shade of purple. Though Horo at first thought he looked arrogant, he saw something else in those golden eyes and interpreted it as loneliness, which it probably was. He wore a sleeveless shirt with dark jeans, barely fitting on his hips and almost dropping, had it not been for the damn belt. Their eyes met briefly, before Ren cast away his eyes towards his grandfather.

"This is my grandson, Tao Ren."

Horo swallowed- he felt attraction towards this boy almost immediately.

This was even worse than bad; this was terrible.


	2. High Prices

_AN: Well, first chapter! Hehe… _

**Chapter 1: High Prices**

"Ren, this is your teacher, Usui-san," his grandfather pointed at me and Ren made a small bow.

"It's nice meeting you, Usui-san," he said, though he didn't seem to mean it.

"Nice meeting you too, Ren-kun," Horo replied in return, though a little reluctant. This was awkward- very awkward. First, he gets dragged into the biggest house he had ever seen, then he meets a creepy little guy and _then _he meets his grandson, who he's going to tutor for the next year and who was a goddamn _Sex God_. Horo was just hoping that Ren was an arrogant bastard with a bad personality- that was a real turn off for him. No matter how bloody gorgeous he was.

"Well, sit down Ren, so we can all get to know each other a little better," the creepy grandfather said happily. Ren complied, not answering him, and sat down on the opposite side of Horo, occasionally glaring at him. Okay, so Ren didn't like him already- that was rather evident. As he sat down, maids came in and served dinner- everything on beautiful white platters and tea served in fancy teacups. Everything was way out of Horo's league. "So, Horo, mind if you tell us something about yourself? I like to know things about the man who is going to teach my grandson. Of course, I heard many things from Anna already- graduating from a high class university in America, being asked by only the best. I was very impressed." Horo blinked and swallowed- just how much did Anna change his résumé?

"Well, I grew up in Hokkaido,"

"Really? You must be used to the cold then." Horo nodded.

"Yeah, I lived there until my parents died. My sister and I moved to Tokyo after that." The grandfather nodded again, though not very impressed. Ren, on the other hand, didn't look at him at all- he probably didn't even listen to him, much to Horo's annoyance. Of course, the Ainu couldn't reveal a lot about himself, since he had no idea what Anna had said about him. Damn her and her idiotic plans, which always succeeded somehow. Damn her.

The rest of the evening was spent talking about unimportant things. Horo often was just silent and listened to the creepy grandfather talking about China, or sometimes only addressing Ren, who almost didn't say anything during dinner. He constantly wore a frown on his face, never looking up from his plate, except when his grandfather addressed him.

"Well, one of the maids will show you to your room," the creepy grandfather said, after dessert. Horo stood up happily and shook both of their hands. "Your suitcases are already in your room and I will send a maid to show you where you will be teaching Ren tomorrow morning. Oh, and before I forget," the old man grabbed a chequebook from his pocket and started to write something in it. Horo blinked. "I hope this is enough," he continued, ripping a cheque out of it and handing it over to Horo.

For a moment, everything was silent. Then the Ainu's mouth fell open.

"A-are you serious?" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. The old man just raised an eyebrow.

"It's only for this month, of course. It isn't enough? I could write you a new one," he said, making Horo's mouth go even wider.

"N-no, this is enough," he spluttered, holding his hands in front of him.

Damn rich bastards.

"Very well then," the old man said, grinning creepily at Horo. "Lili!" A maid stepped forward, nervously, as the grandfather told her she needed to guide their guest to his room. She nodded, motioning Horo to follow her.

Three staircases later, Horo found himself standing inside his own room, which was practically bigger than Funbari Onsen… it was quite embarrassing. Well, it wasn't a room, he supposed, but it was an entire wing he got for himself- it had a kitchen, living room, balcony, bedroom and bathroom- in fact, it was just his very own apartment. The room contained everything he needed- plasma television, a phone, radio, bed, couches, anything he needed to live a comfortable life. He was starting to like this more and more- especially after the huge six figure paycheque he received from his 'boss'. He couldn't believe that was actually a _month's _salary. If he could keep this up, he didn't have to work for the rest of his life, after tutoring Ren for a year.

"Your bags are in your bedroom, Usui-sama," the maid said kindly, bowing her head for Horo. "If you need anything, please do not hesitate to call someone."

"Thank you, Lili-san," he said in return. She left his room and he immediately started unpacking. He knew that, if he would delay it, he'd never do it, so he started with it right away.

During unpacking, all he could think about was Ren, much to his annoyance. He didn't know the boy at all- just his age and name and where he came from. Though he seemed unbelievably arrogant, he also seemed… lonely and sad. Horo shrugged- he did not want to feel pity for the guy, he didn't want to feel anything for him. It would only lead to complications, pain and more complications- besides, the guy was five years younger than he was.

Nope. Horo felt nothing for him. It was just a simple attraction.

--

It was the next day. Horo had found the refrigerator, stuffed with all kind of foods, mostly Japanese, and the Ainu started to feel better and better about this whole thing. All doubts about not having enough qualifications were gone and he could only think about the money, house and, most importantly: _food_.

Anyway, after breakfast, Lili knocked on the door to take him with her to the classroom. It was a cramped space, though very rich with books, globes of the Earth and other teaching materials. There was one desk for Horo and one table for Ren, on which he was already sitting. Lili immediately excused herself, leaving both of them alone.

The first thing Horo did, was open up a window, to let some fresh air into the room. Ren followed his every movement- much to the annoyance of Horo- and waited silently for the Ainu to start. Somewhere, Horo thought Ren didn't want to be there at all- at least, not with him. He had a feeling Ren knew about Anna's Plan. Or he at least knew that Horo was lying. The Ainu just shrugged and looked through the bookcase standing next to the window and took out a Chinese book. He frowned as he put down the book and looked over it again, seeing only Chinese ones. He turned to Ren, grinning nervously.

"Eh, do we have any Japanese books?" he asked. Ren just rolled his eyes.

"Bottom shelf, _sensei,_" he emphasized the last word, making Horo scowl. Ren just looked content at the small blush on his teacher's cheek, before returning to glare at him.

"Ah, right," Horo said, ignoring the sarcastic and arrogant tone in Ren's voice. All attraction was completely lost as Horo started to become even more agitated by his attitude. "Well, let's start with history, I'm always interested in that. Aren't you?" he tried to at least be friendly towards his new and only student, but, apparently, said student had no interest in friendliness whatsoever.

"Actually, I don't see the point in learning about dead leaders and passed wars. The past is the past and it's of no further use for the present and future," he said, emotionless. "But, of course, it is your class. I don't get to choose what I want you are going to teach." Horo blinked once, thinking about whatever Ren had said- so, the guy wanted to learn something he wanted to choose? That could be done.

"I tell you what Ren," the Ainu said. "If you'll be a good boy in my class and stop glaring at me, we'll learn whatever you want to learn for two hours a day. The rest of the time, I'll choose. Deal?" He held out his hand and waited for Ren to either take it, or to tell him he wasn't interested. After a moment of thinking about it, Ren spoke, instead of taking the hand.

"No, thank you. I enjoy glaring too much and I have no intention of being a 'good boy'." Horo withdrew his hand, slightly taken aback by the way he simply rejected his offer. "If I were you, _sensei_, I'd leave now. I'll be honest with you; I don't like you. At all. And I can make sure your life here will be a living hell." Horo blinked again.

Oh yeah. All attraction was completely gone. He started to hate this kid more and more.

"Well, if we're both going to be honest, I might as well do the same. I hate your guts Tao Ren," Horo replied, his tone just as emotionless as Ren's. For a moment, said boy's eyes widened by the way Horo spoke to him, but his face soon went back to his emotionless mask. "The only reason why I am staying, is because this job gets paid a lot and I need the money and a place to stay. If you torture me and chase me away, your parents are only going to get another teacher until you give up, so I don't think it will matter- you can have either me, or someone else anyway. My offer still stands, if you want, but don't expect me to tolerate anything from you, Mister High and Mighty." Ren snorted and looked away.

He had never had anyone who spoke back to him like that. He hated him.

"Just get on with this," he said. Horo grinned at him.

"I definitely will and because you seem to like it so much, we'll start with history!"

Ren's scowl grew even more.

--

"Yoh, I tell you, he's terrible!" He heard his friend chuckle on the other end of the phone. "It's not a laughing matter, I mean, how can _anyone _be _that _arrogant? I swear, his head doesn't even fit through the _door_."

"So, you like him, huh?" Horo's face faltered.

"Yeah," he chuckled. "It's weird, I mean, he really is a bastard, but no matter how much I keep repeating the fact that he's arrogant in my head, I still keep liking him. Don't know why, maybe I just have bad taste or something." Yoh laughed.

"Well, that you do. Remember when you had the hots for _Hao_?" Horo groaned.

"Oh God, don't remind me," he said. "Ren's different though."

"You mean he's not a pyromaniac?" Horo chuckled.

"Precisely. But, you know, I don't like him like _that_. I mean, he's five years younger than I am, is rich, is my _student_ and he's probably asexual or something. I wouldn't be surprised." Yoh sighed.

"Well. Besides the 'asexual'-thing, I don't think those other ones really matter. Five years isn't that much and being rich… well, that's only in your benefit," he chuckled. "And, well, the student part isn't that bad either, right?" Horo shrugged.

"I suppose, but still. I hardly know anything about him and he hates my guts!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because he told me."

"And what did you say next?"

"That I hated him too."

"Smart move Horo."

"Thank you, Yoh." Yoh laughed through the phone and Horo grew impatient. "How can you talk so easily about things like this anyway? I mean, I'm gay, you're straight, we shouldn't be talking about guys together."

"Horo, you know I don't really care about gender. It's important you love each other, right? Besides that, I don't mind talking about stuff like this."

"You really are a weird one Yoh."

"Same to you, Horo."

"Well, I have to go. Gotta get up early in the morning to teach the brat and his grandfather even invited me to play tennis with him. Can you believe it? They have _three _tennis courts in their backyard, four different pools and six stables. Damn rich bastards." Yoh laughed again. "Well, I'll call you later. Say 'hi' to Anna for me."

"I will. You say 'hi' to the brat for me."


	3. Dinner With The Enemy

_AN: Thanks for all the reviews :3! For Daydreaming-child: I'm glad you're checking out another one of my fics xD Alas, I like Ren being seme, because he's always so dominant everywhere, though I really _did _want to make Horo seme in For All The Right Reasons, but as I started to write it, I suddenly had the urge to put Ren on top xD… we'll see how it turns out with this one o.o And yes, there shall be lemon! LOTS OF IT! Mwuahahaha… -cough- _

_DTA: Yeah, I noticed that xD We never got to see him go to school… gha, maybe he just likes to wear short pants xD_

_Enjoy n.n_

**Chapter 2: Dinner With The Enemy**

A week later, Horo still hadn't seen any improvement in the relationship between him and his student. Frankly, he became annoyed even at the sight of the arrogant and stoic boy- he looked like a fifty-year old, at least, that was the best way to describe him to Yoh. The way Ren acted, the way he never did anything fun. It was just… pathetic. The only thing Ren did was reading or studying; he didn't have any friends, as far as Horo could see and his parents were almost never home to keep an eye on him.

It was just too sad for Horo to watch.

Maybe that was also one of the reasons Horo could never snap at him- the boy seemed lonely, abandoned, though he would never admit that he had such feelings. Actually, the only reason for Horo to know that he felt that way, was because Horo had harboured the same feelings not too long ago- he recognised it and wanted to help him, even though he knew Ren would never let him… willingly, that is. If Horo could just get him to open up to him unconsciously, if he could visit him sometimes, get him to go with him to the movies… that would be an option. Simply befriending the boy, instead of walking away from him just like everybody else did. Be there for him, even though he would just get pushed away again.

He didn't know why he wanted to help this boy so badly; after all, he probably wouldn't get much in return, except for a scowl. It would only bring Horo trouble, he knew that, because nothing good could come of helping an anti-social rich-boy. And yet, he still wanted to. Perhaps it was because he understood Ren's loneliness on some level.

Anyway, so he was going to help him. Perfect. The only problem left was; how the hell was he going to do that? Ren didn't even agree to his offer of at least behaving himself if he got to choose what he wanted Horo to teach him- how was he supposed to befriend him? Horo shrugged and grinned slightly at himself; he just had to pull out all of his charms and use them on Ren, or, as he liked to call it: Horokeu's Amazing Skills To Befriend Anyone!

… Or, as Anna liked to call it: BoroBoro's Idiotic And Useless Attempts At Befriending Someone.

No need to get further into that.

Horo just had to try and make everything work between them- he knew people could easily befriend him, because he was always talkative and cheerful, though Ren was a whole different story. He had never met anyone like him and to be honest, Ren interested him greatly. He wanted to know what was going on inside that mind when he was looking out the window, or when he was sitting quietly in the grass outside, his arms crossed and sitting tensely against a tree. He was just a mystery to him and Horo had assigned the job to solve the mystery that was Ren to himself.

It was a Sunday night. Horo was cooking dinner for himself, as he never ate with the Tao's. The night of his arrival had just been an exception, to introduce himself to Ren and his grandfather (he had later met Tao En, the father, and Tao Jun, the sister. He had never seen Ren's mother though) and Horo didn't mind one bit- sitting there, eating in such a great hall while maids and butlers were hanging over your shoulders wasn't really his thing. Plus, he liked being by himself.

There was a knock on his 'frontdoor' and Horo jumped, startled by it. There were never any visits by the Tao's, so he was completely by himself every night and nobody ever came to his quarters- they never bothered to. So, this was a first. It was pretty lonely, he had to admit that, compared to living with Yoh and Anna, whom he'd spend every night with, watching television or just playing videogames.

"Come in!" he yelled from the kitchen. He heard the door opening slowly and someone stepping in.

"Usui-sensei?" A cold voice. You can imagine Horo's surprise as Tao Ren entered and stood in front of him, his arms crossed and a look of uncertainty on his face. Horo just grinned at him, as friendly as possible.

"Ren, how nice of you to visit me," he said. Ren rolled his eyes, but Horo ignored it.

"Could I have dinner here, sensei?" The Chinese boy had always been very blunt towards Horo, which the Ainu didn't mind at all- he liked honesty, even though Ren could be very harsh at times. Horo never paid any attention to his rude remarks though, so it wasn't a problem for him.

He blinked. "Sure, why not. I'm not a great cook though, so bare with me." Ren nodded slowly and sat down in a chair at the small, round dining table. Horo was surprised, again, since the Chinese boy had never made a lot of contact and almost never said anything to him. Horo didn't pry any further though- he knew a few things about Ren, and one was that he didn't like to be asked any questions.

After five minutes of a rather uncomfortable silence (at least, uncomfortable for Horo- Ren didn't seem to have a big problem with it), the Ainu set down two plates with food on the table. Ren eyed the food for a moment, as if it could start walking away any second, before he took a bite from it, nodding in approval. Horo grinned at him.

"You want something to drink?" he asked, before sitting down.

"Milk." The teacher nodded and grabbed some for Ren out of the refrigerator. "You don't want to know why I'm having dinner here?" Ren finally asked, as Horo sat down at the table and started eating. In return, Horo shook his head, as his mouth was too full to speak. Again, Ren rolled his eyes at the immature idiot that was his teacher.

"Not really," Horo said finally. "I like the company."

"But we hate each other," Ren said, still not understanding. "You said you hated me." Horo tapped his chin with his index finger thoughtfully.

"I did say that, didn't I? Ah well, it's better than having dinner alone, right?" Another couple of minutes was spent in silence, before Ren finally broke it again. Horo became annoyed- he liked eating and he liked doing it in silence, damnit. Just because he was always talking, didn't mean Ren could talk to him whenever he liked!

"My parents are having guests tonight," he told Horo. The Ainu blinked.

"Is that so bad?"

"It is, when one of the guests is your fiancée," Ren said. Horo choked immediately on the piece of rice. Ren stayed calm as Horo went into a coughing fit and patted him softly on the back. "You didn't know I had one?" he then asked dryly. The Ainu shook his head violently.

"No! I mean, no. Shouldn't you be happy to see her?"

"No. I don't like her- it's arranged." Horo mouthed an 'o', before taking another bite of his dinner, looking thoughtfully at Ren.

"Is she pretty?"

"Maybe. I don't know." Horo blinked.

"You don't know?" Ren shook his head.

"Girls don't interest me," he replied. Horo's heart skipped a beat. He was gay! He was gay! Then he mentally slapped himself- Ren was in no means interested in a teacher. Ren was engaged and there was hardly anything Horo could do about it. And, besides that, the Chinese boy had never said he was interested in guys either… for all Horo knew, he could really be asexual.

"Well… that sucks, if you have to marry one," Horo said. "Have you tried talking to your parents about this?"

"They wouldn't understand. Their marriage was arranged as well and Father would kill me," his tone became slightly softer and hesitant, before he added, "would you mind if I stayed here for a while?"

"Of course not," his teacher said, grinning at him. "But, doesn't your father mind if you'd stay here?" Ren shook his head.

"No, I told him I needed your help on some math problems." Horo nodded and the rest of their dinner was in silence.

After eating, Horo had asked Ren if he wanted to watch a movie- a first step towards helping his new student. Ren just looked at him as if he had grown a second head; movies? Entertainment? What the hell is that? It was as if Ren had never even _seen _a movie. Taking that in consideration, Horo decided he should let Ren see the best movie _ever:_ the Emperor's New Groove.

Oh yeah.

Ren watched, a sceptical look on his face, at the emperor who turned into a llama and slowly befriended an ordinary peasant. Horo couldn't help but think about how slightly similar his situation with Ren was- except for the part where the emperor changes into a llama… Heh. Ren as a llama. And of course, the fact that he was no peasant (though, perhaps in Ren's eyes he was) and that the Chinese boy was no emperor and that they didn't have Ren's evil subordinates chasing after them and-… okay, so their situation _wasn't _like the movie. Big deal.

"I don't see the point in this," Ren finally said, after the credits started to roll. Horo sighed.

"Well, the reason why I adore Disney so much, is because they always teach you some sort of lesson, I guess," Horo said. "In this one, I guess the lesson is that, no matter how rich or powerful you are, you're nothing without friends who help you during a time of need."

"That's silly. You can buy friends with money, you don't need real ones." Again, Horo sighed.

"Perhaps when you're rich, but, as you can see, Kuzco was betrayed by his so called 'friends' and was robbed from his money and status. The only one who cared for him after that, was Pascha and Kuzco realised that at the end of the movie and they helped each other. Well, that's the lesson, but a movie doesn't necessarily need a point, Ren- it's entertainment. Didn't you like it?" Ren shrugged.

"I have no idea, I can't remember the last time I ever watched a movie," he replied. Horo pretended to look shocked.

"You can't _remember_?" he pointed at Ren, who merely rolled his eyes. "I guess we have to do this more often then," he grinned down at the slightly smaller boy sitting beside him, who had a smirk on his face.

"I liked Kronk though. He reminded me of you." Of course, this was meant as an insult, or perhaps it was just teasing- Horo laughed anyway.

"Why, I'm glad you think I'm a strong and muscular guy," he replied. "You kind of remind me of that squirrel, you pipsqueak." Ren scowled at him, before smacking him on the head. "Hey! I was just kidding! You can't hit your teacher!"

"I can if he's acting like an idiot," Ren retorted. "Thanks for letting me stay here, sensei," he continued, standing up and walking to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow." He turned and gave a very small and tiny bow, before walking out the door.

"See ya, Ren," Horo muttered softly, before going to the kitchen to wash the dirty dishes, a small blush appearing on his cheeks as he thought about Ren.

He really had gotten himself into a big mess.

--

_AN: Emperors New Groove is actually _my _all-time favourite movie XD I like trying to find the moral in Disney movies, and I felt like that one had it too and would be perfect for the story xD. Please leave a review!_


	4. Meeting Kara

_AN: INTRODUCING: OC!_

_Oh yeah._

_Now, don't be shocked- not a Mary-Sue xD I couldn't find anyone who would be most suited for the part, so I decided to make someone up. I hate her already though, she's such a biatch D: but nyah, don't worry about it… hehehe…. xD she'll get what she deserves in the end. And she'll play a bigger role in the next few chapters- this is just kind of an introduction to her._

_Enjoy :3_

**Chapter 4: Meeting Kara**

The next day Ren occasionally glanced over at Horo, a calculating look on his face, but at the same time very annoyed. Horo had given him a quick assignment, so Horo could grade his test. He had learned that Ren was very smart- so smart even, that there hadn't been one mistake on one of the tests he had so far taken, which was rather amazing. Well, not that it was very surprising, considering the fact that Ren usually only studied.

According to his Chinese student, his fiancée had stayed over and would join them later on the day so she could study with her 'sweetheart'. Horo pitied Ren very much.

There still was some tension between them even though Ren had made the first move towards a better relationship. Though he might not have realised it himself, of course, since Ren's only reason was because he wanted to get away from his family. Horo shrugged- maybe being a teacher wasn't the best job for him. He'd get too involved with his students, try to help them, while it wasn't even his place to do so. He got attached to people way too fast as well, so he wondered, if he would be able to be friends with Ren, how he could leave him and how he could stop himself with interfering in the boys life too much.

After all, what if they did become friends and Horo had to leave? Ren would be on his own again… the Ainu shrugged the thought off and concentrated on his work instead. He felt that, if you were a teacher, you needed to care about your students and not only help them with their education, but also with their personal life. And even though Ren seemed to have everything he could ever wish for, he still wasn't happy for some reason- he was way too lonely.

"Ren, a perfect score as usual," Horo said, smiling at the boy sitting on the other side of the classroom. Ren smirked at him.

"Naturally." The Ainu rolled his eyes at the boy's arrogance, but still was rather amused by it. He looked out the window- it was a very beautiful day, way too warm to be sitting inside… even though they did have air-conditioning.

"How about we go outside today?" he asked Ren, grinning at him. "We'll just take some books with us and continue the lesson there, I'm sure you have a great spot to sit in that country you call a backyard." Again, the arrogant smirk, which didn't annoy Horo so much anymore. You could say he had gotten used to it. He nodded and stood up, taking his assignment with him and his history book, which they would continue with next.

"I don't know if Father will approve though," Ren pointed out, as they were walking down the hallway, heading outside. "He thinks it will only distract me from my studies."

"Does it?" Ren shook his head. "Then I can't see the problem."

"I'll be the one who he'll blame though," Ren said, shuddering as he did so. Horo raised an eyebrow at the evident fear in the boy's eyes.

"I'll just say you warned me, but made you come anyway. It was my idea, right?" Ren nodded his head hesitantly, but didn't say anything more as they entered their garden. Horo blinked once, as he saw a young girl sitting on one of the chairs outside. Her hair was blonde, she was very slim and, even though he didn't like girls, she was very pretty. She clearly wasn't Japanese, as far as Horo could see, though she was reading a Japanese book. She was dressed way too extravagant for the Ainu's taste- a big white hat, a white dress and white, high heeled shoes was what she was wearing. It seemed to be way too warm to be dressed like that. She turned to face them both, Ren nervously hiding behind Horo as she did so.

"Ah, Ren," she said, smiling sweetly at the both of them, her tone very arrogant. She obviously was very rich and knew how to enjoy it- it was clear that she thought she was ten times better than Horo was; just the way of her looking at him was enough for Horo to take the hint. It seemed as though he was but a mere cockroach in her eyes. Ren nodded stiffly, before tugging on Horo's sleeve- an indication that he wanted to leave as fast as possible. "And this must be your teacher I've heard so much about." Horo smiled back at her, nervously, he was getting cold shivers from this girl. "I'm Mao Kara, Ren's fiancée, but I'm sure he has told you about me. We're very close." Horo blinked- as far as he knew, Ren hated her. Especially seeing the Chinese boy inching away from her every time she said a word or glanced at him- it was creepy and rather sad to watch.

"My name is Usui Horokeu, it's nice to meet you, Mao-san," Horo said politely. "If you don't mind, Ren and I will be going. He has much work to do." Kara nodded.

"Of course, I'm sure I'll be seeing you more often, since I will be staying here for another month," she replied.

"How nice," Horo said, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible- he failed miserably though. "Until next time then, Mao-san." He walked past her, Ren quickly following him as they hurried over to one of the nearby trees, finding shadow there and sat down, immediately continuing their lesson.

They didn't pay any attention to the girl who was watching them carefully.

--

"Hey Yoh, how's it going?" Horo asked, a week later. Luckily for him, he hadn't had the 'pleasure' of meeting the creepy girl again. Well, not a meeting where they would actually talk- it was more or less Horo being late for class and running through the hallway, occasionally meeting her.

As for Ren, he came around his room almost every evening to have dinner with him. They never spoke a lot to each other, with things still being awkward since Ren wasn't used to spending so much time with someone else, though it wasn't uncomfortable anymore. Ren had also requested to watch more movies and Horo was surprised when Ren had asked him if he had some more Disney-films lying around (which, of course, he did).

"Doing good here," Yoh replied happily. "How's the rich life going?"

"A lot of weirdos here Yoh," Horo groaned and Yoh chuckled. "Listen, I wanted to invite the guys for dinner here this Saturday."

"You wanna make it a girl-less evening? I don't think Anna's going to like that, she's been worried about you…" Yoh muttered.

"Aw, really?" Horo sounded surprised.

"Yeah, she wanted to make sure that you don't mess up her plan," Yoh chuckled at him and Horo rolled his eyes. "I'll tell the guys about it though, should we bring anything?"

"Nope, I've got it all covered, but it's a long drive, about two hours, are you guys willing to spend the night here? I've got enough room for all of us and I don't think we'll get a lot of sleep anyway," he said, grinning.

"Speak for yourself, Usui," Yoh said, chuckling. "You want Hao to come too, though?" It took a moment for Horo to answer that- he hadn't actually counted on Hao, but he was Yoh's twin…

"Yeah sure, you can bring him too," Horo finally said.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," the Ainu finally said. "Well, gotta go, Ren'll be here soon."

"Ren?" Horo could practically see Yoh grinning. "As in, the little brat?" Horo chuckled.

"Yeah, he's been coming to my room for two weeks now, almost every evening. I don't mind at all, he's good company." Horo was trying to keep himself from blushing.

"And he's cute, right?"

"That too," he acknowledged.

"Why don't you invite him for Saturday too then? I'd like to meet your future boyfriend," Yoh chuckled.

"You're hopeless Yoh," Horo replied, shrugging. "Well, I'll see you Saturday then! Bye,"

"See ya Horo."

And, as if on cue, Ren opened the door to his room as Horo put down the phone. He looked kind of flustered, as if he had been running the whole way to Horo's room, though he didn't seem to be out of breath at all. Maybe he was coming down with a fever- the Ainu discarded it for now and walked to the kitchen to grab their dinner.

"I'm having some friends over on Saturday," he immediately said and felt his heart skip a beat. He really hoped Ren could come- for his sake and perhaps a bit for Ren's as well. It was good to meet people and over the couple of weeks, Ren certainly had opened up to him a bit more. Not that he was a changed man or something- he still was arrogant and didn't seem to understand the concept of friendship and love too well, but he certainly had improved slightly.

Not that Horo wanted to change him or anything- he liked Ren the way he was. He just wanted to help, wanted to help him make some friends and be a little more social. He wanted him to be happy, happier than he was at that time.

"It's kind of like a party," Horo continued. "I thought that you'd like to come too." Ren looked at him, a frown gracing his face as if to say 'are you serious? I'm too good for parties', but eventually nodded. "Great," Horo said, an idiotic grin on his face. "I'm sure you'll like all of them. Yoh's a bit of a lazy ass, but he's kind of funny once you get him drunk. I remember one time when he was running through the house his underwear, his wife, Anna, chased him the whole night until he finally passed out," Horo started to ramble on, with a lot of affection in his voice as he talked about his friends, which caused Ren to be slightly jealous of these 'friends' of his, though he didn't recognise the feeling at the time. "And Manta, he's really short, but he's rich too, maybe you know him? Well, no, that's stupid- just because you're rich doesn't mean you know him. Anyway, then you have Chocolove, he thinks he can crack jokes, but is actually rather annoying… come to think of it, you won't like him," Horo finally finished, grinning slightly. "Well, there will be some others of course, but you'll meet them. It'll be great!"

Ren looked at him as if he had gone mad and shrugged- he had never once gone to a party which was held in a small space like Horo's chambers. He had gone to ballroom parties, of course, but he had never enjoyed them very much- they were boring, people had to get dressed up as if they were meeting a queen (which sometimes really was the case) and most people would simply ignore him. He was rather interested in meet Horo's friends though- he talked about them very often.

"Maybe you'd like to help me prepare dinner and stuff?" Horo asked him, interrupting his train of thoughts. The Ainu himself was slightly surprised from where that came from- he personally liked cooking, since it involved food, so he didn't mind preparing things on his own, though he suddenly had the urge to just… invite him. Ren hesitated for a moment, before finally nodding again. Horo grinned at him. "Great!"

Ren found that it was relatively easy to make his teacher happy.

--

Kara grinned at herself. This was good, this was very good. She looked at the screen of her laptop, to an email one of her guardians had sent her, concerning a man named Usui Horokeu. It was her duty as Ren's future wife to make sure everything was perfect in his life- including the people surrounding him. Horokeu surely did not fit in that perfect picture, according to the information she had acquired.

"_Name: Usui Horokeu_

_Age: 22_

_Sex: Male_

_Occupation: Teacher_

_History: Lived in Hokkaido until he was fifteen, moved to Tokyo with sister Pilica after parents' death. Never left Japan in his life, graduated from a low-class university in Tokyo."_

Before she would tell the Tao's they had all been deceived, she would have a little fun with Horo first.

--

_AN: Don't you just hate her? I know I do XD_


	5. Hao Makes His Move Part 1

_AN: Well, the long awaited party is here! I love Yoh and Ryu and Chocolove so much xD They're so awesooooome… I usually like Hao too, but he's a bit of a bitch in this one D:… _

_Well, enjoy!_

**Chapter 5: Hao Makes His Move**

Saturday came rather quickly for both of them. With every passing minute, Horo grew more anxious to meet Hao… to be reminded of that time. Hao, the bastard. Hao, the one he used to love… He shrugged off that thought- it had been a long time ago, five years even, he was supposed to be over it! But then again, he hadn't had an actual relationship in five years, so he must still be harbouring some feelings for Yoh's twin brother.

Yes, he was Yoh's twin- almost identical in appearance, yet so different on the inside. Yoh was friendly, calm, intelligent and caring. Hao was wild, passionate and cared only about his own feelings.

Yoh still liked him though, since they had a brotherly relationship. They both got along pretty well, though Hao usually got on Yoh's nerves. Horo had invited him to the party, for this sole reason; sure, the annoying twin had hurt his feelings, but that was no reason to exclude him from everybody else. Their 'group' had been together for almost eight years now and just because Hao had done something terrible _five years ago_, was not a reason to shun him. After all, if they would do something like that to Pilica, Horo wouldn't forgive them either.

But Horo decided not to think about the bastard anymore. This was a party; he was going to enjoy himself. He just needed to think about Ren, which cheered him up greatly, even though it also felt as if a rock had been dropped inside his stomach.

Horo had come to terms with his 'crush' on Ren and to be honest, it had been the first one in years. The boy was just so… different than anybody else he had ever met. He was arrogant and cocky and annoying, but Horo found it didn't bother him as much as it should have. He didn't open up to him, never talked to him about what was bothering him, though he came to have dinner with Horo every evening and would stay until it was nearly midnight. This didn't help Horo with his 'crush', by the way.

Of course, the Ainu welcomed him with open arms whenever Ren wanted to drop by.

He knew that, even if Ren would harbour the same feelings towards him, it would never work out between them- that was probably why Horo got a sinking feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about the boy. He was engaged, he was a rich boy, he was expected to have children and continue the Tao lineage. It would never, _never _work out between them. Maybe if they both ran away from everything, move to another country- maybe if Ren would leave his family for Horo… perhaps it would work then, but those things only happened in sappy fairy-tales, never in real life.

Horo knew these things, but somehow wasn't ready to accept them. Every time he saw him, he could only stare and wonder what it was like to run his hands over that tanned skin, caressing his face, holding him close to his own warm body… He shrugged- it was never going to happen.

"Horo?" The soft and deep voice that was Ren's spoke from the kitchen. The Ainu had insisted for him to call him by his first name since they saw each other so frequently anyway. "Are you ready to prepare dinner for the party?" Though no one else would ever be able to tell, Horo knew that there was a hint of concern on his face. It was to be expected; Horo had been lost in thought for a while now and hadn't been his cheery self- it probably had something to do with Hao, but the Ainu brushed that thought away and smiled at Ren.

"Yip, let's hope you're a good cook," he said happily. Ren just smirked at him, in that irritating, arrogant way.

"Our cook has been learning me a lot of recipes for the past few years, so yes, I do know how to cook," he replied. Horo scowled.

"So you've been making me cook for you every evening? Lazy bastard," he mumbled in response, making Ren's smirk grow even wider. "Just so you know; _you're _cooking tomorrow."

"Sure. Gives me a chance to finally poison you," Ren responded dryly, getting out some pans and the ingredients they would need. Horo raised an eyebrow and shrugged. He walked over to the kitchen, hands in his pockets and glanced over Ren's shoulder to see what he was doing. After five minutes of this, the Chinese boy grew annoyed and shot him a glare. "Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help? Please tell me, so I can see whether or not to fork-stab you." The Ainu looked amused.

"It depends. What's 'fork-stab'?"

"It's me with a fork stabbing you. Are you really that dense?" Ren scowled at him, poking him with a fork to emphasize his point.

"I just didn't picture you as a fork-person," Horo responded, swatting away the fork and getting himself a bowl. "Well, I'll start on the salad then," he said cheerfully, getting started with it.

He faintly noticed Ren glancing at him every now and then.

--

"Oh! There they are!" Horo yelled enthusiastically, bouncing around through the room. In a blur of blue and white, he dashed towards the frontdoor and opened it. Ren looked at the visitors shyly and took them in- his teacher had told him something about them and how to recognise them. The first one appeared to be Chocolove- a boy with an afro-hairstyle, which looked pretty cool on him, and a very cheerful face. He slapped Horo on the shoulder, before handing him a bottle of wine as a gift, quickly entering the room to allow the others to come in. The second one seemed to be Yoh, the one he usually was talking to on the phone- he had brown hair and a very relaxed face; he wore sandals and had his button-up shirt open, revealing a tanned skin. He gave Horo a warm hug upon entering and laughed cheerfully. The third one to come in was, without a doubt, Ryu. He had an Elvis-like appearance, with his greasy black hair and extravagant clothes- he seemed to be very nice, once you got used to his tall figure and rough appearance.

Then came a very short, girl-like boy; obviously Lyserg. Horo had told him that Ryu had a crush on Lyserg when they first met, since he had thought Lyserg was a girl, but seemed to like him even after knowing he was a guy. He came in shyly and gave Horo a hug as well. After Lyserg came another tall man with blonde hair and black rings under his eyes, obviously an insomniac. Horo had told him about this man- his name was Faust. His wife had been sick and there had been no medication which would heal her from her illness- apparently, by working day and night on a medicine, he was able to heal her permanently. He still didn't get a lot of sleep though. Faust shook Horo's hand and smiled timidly at the boy. Then came Manta, the shortest of them yet- he barely reached the Ainu's hips. He looked at Horo and smiled warmly at his friend, shaking his hand as well, before joining the others. Then, last but definitely not least, came a boy with long, brown hair, who resembled Yoh in many ways- on the outside at least. He smirked down at Horo, who tried to glance away from his gaze, but failed miserably. Ren had no idea why it was that Horo didn't like him- Hao- and was rather curious to find out. Horo seemed very uncomfortable as Hao hugged the blue-haired boy and Ren noticed that the Ainu immediately tensed.

"Well, now that you've all arrived," Horo started happily, when he had finally been released from Hao's hug. "I'd like you to meet my little student! Everybody, this is Ren- Ren, this is Everybody," he continued cheerfully, pointing at the fuming Chinese boy. He obviously didn't like the 'little student' comment and made a mental note to smack the Ainu later.

"Ah, so you're the little brat?" Yoh asked cheerfully, grabbing Ren's hand and shaking it. Ren quickly glared at Horo, who scratched his head guiltily. "I think you've heard about us- Horo usually is an unstoppable loudmouth, so I have no doubt about it." Yoh continued, grinning at him.

"Yes, I've heard about everything, except the size of your boxers," Ren said in a bored tone. "Which, by the way, I am thankful for."

"Well, dinner's done, so let's eat first and then I'll set up some music, liquor, all that jazz," Horo trailed off, talking to everyone- especially Yoh and Ren, who seemed to have forgotten that he could hear everything they were talking about; mainly _him_. Horo had a vague idea of what Yoh was up to.

"He's kind of cute," the brown-haired boy whispered to Horo when he passed him. The Ainu scowled at him, blushing crimson. "I think I'm going to work on getting you two together." Horo was about to protest, but it seemed as though Yoh had no intention of listening to that anyway- he cared for Horo and he wanted him to be happy, and, even though he had barely seen Ren for five minutes, he knew that the Chinese boy cared for Horo- though Yoh didn't know in what _way_. But he had the entire night to figure that out.

Dinner went by in a blur to Ren. He was seated next to Yoh and Faust, which he liked a lot, though Faust might have been a bit weird. He occasionally glanced at Horo, who was sitting next to Hao, looking rather uncomfortable. People spoke to him as if they had known him for years and he found that he enjoyed it. After a while of eating and being in their company, he started to even speak to them back, sometimes even joking and sometimes even laughing- which he had done only with Horo.

Speaking of the Ainu; he looked at him again and fumed when he saw Hao wipe away a lock of hair from Horo's face, smirking seductively at him. Horo, to Ren's amazement and irritation, didn't swat the hand away- in fact, he was actually _blushing_. Ren's scowl became even worse as Hao looked in his direction and grinned at him, almost _daringly_, before turning back all of his attention to Horo and actually giving him a kiss on the cheek. Horo didn't even blink and, though he slightly tensed, he didn't pull away, but _blushed_.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," Ren said, standing up from his chair and walking to the bathroom. Horo and Yoh both sent him worried looks, but didn't move and returned to eating their food.

"Shit," Ren hissed at his reflection in the bathroom. "Shit, shit, shit," he continued, splashing more of the water in his face, the image of a blushing Horo being _kissed _on the _cheek _by that _bastard_ running through his mind. He shouldn't even care about stuff like that, but he did- hell, he was even _jealous_, though he honestly didn't know why- he didn't feel like that when Yoh had hugged Horo, or when Lyserg had… but then again, they didn't _kiss _him like Hao had done. "Bastard," he mumbled to himself, the image still replaying itself. "Shit, I got myself in to deep," he continued.

He shouldn't have been there- he shouldn't be anywhere near Horo except for in a classroom. He had developed a crush for the stupid Ainu, for reasons still unknown to him, but he did have one. At least, he was still calling it a crush- it had now become apparent that it was something more than that. It hadn't scared him, it hadn't confused him- he just knew. Maybe it was because of the attention Horo gave him, or the warm smiles, or the way he welcomed him with open arms every evening, or the way his eyes shone whenever something exciting was going to happen- it just made Ren happy to see that. He didn't know a lot about love, but he knew enough to know that he at least felt something towards Horo and he wasn't afraid to recognise that.

Though he also knew they could never be together, no matter how much it pained him.

He had a fiancée, he had his duties to his family, his father would never approve… and, even though these things should matter to him and even though these things should stop him from feeling anything, they didn't. Maybe that's why he kept returning to him every evening, to at least have him as a… friend… though the word still was foreign to him. Horo had been the very first friend he had ever had and the very first person he had ever felt so strongly about.

He splashed some more water on his face, before returning to the rest of the company.

--

After dinner, Horo played some music and served drinks to all of his friends (except for Ren, who took a Coke instead, since he wasn't allowed to drink yet) and, after a couple of minutes, started to drag Yoh to the middle of the room and danced with him. Yoh happily obliged and made some weird robotic-like movements, before returning back to the couch to get some more alcohol into his system. Too much exercise made him thirsty, was what he said when Horo complained.

"Say Rennie, wanna dance?" the Ainu grinned, tugging on Ren's hand. The Chinese boy scowled at him and tried to tug his hand away from him, but to no avail. Horo had already pulled him to the middle of the room and danced around like some kind of lunatic- it was hardly along with the beat of the music. Ren stood there awkwardly, glancing around at some of the other guys who were just dancing randomly as well and tried to mimic some moves, though he blushed at the embarrassment- this was hardly like any other party he had ever attended… this was much more free, there were no stuck-up people to look down on others, they were just all normal, casual and didn't mind it if anybody would act foolish. In fact, they encouraged it.

Ren liked it.

"Come on Ren, loosen up!" Horo chuckled lightly at the confused expression on Ren's face and grabbed both of hands and continued to shake his arms to get him to move at least a little bit. Ren glared at him, but tried to move along with the beat anyway and, when Horo was spinning over-exaggerated, he couldn't help but let out a laugh at the antics. The Ainu grinned happily at his friend and his eyes sparkled with pleasure as Ren continued to grin, which then faded into a soft and warm smile, something Horo had never seen on Ren's face before… he felt his breath stopping and his voice fading as he looked down at the boy and all thoughts of Hao were gone immediately.

And they were back again when Hao decided that it was his turn to dance with Horo.

"Excuse me, Chibi," Hao said, glaring at the boy. "I'd like to dance now." Ren glared right back at him.

"Well, knock yourself out. There's enough room here," he retorted, ignoring the 'chibi' comment and turned back to Horo, who looked at both of them, slightly confused.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear," Hao swung his arm around Horo's shoulders, causing the latter to blush lightly and stop dancing. "I want to dance with Horo, meaning _you _go somewhere else." Ren looked at the Ainu for some form help- for some form of confirmation that Horo wanted _Ren _to dance with him and not Hao.

But he didn't get it.

Giving one final glare at the brown-haired boy, he stomped off towards the couch, where Chocolove and Yoh were talking animatedly about their schooldays together, along time ago. Ren sat down as far away from everybody as possible, but it was no use- after five minutes of glaring, Yoh, Chocolove and Manta both scooted over to where he was sitting and asking him if anything was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong," Ren ground out, still glaring in the direction of Hao and Horo. They all followed his gaze and mouthed an 'oh' in unison, before turning back to Ren, except for Manta who looked at Yoh.

"So, Horo's passed it?" he asked him. Ren perked up a bit at the Ainu's name and listened to their conversation. Yoh took another look at Horo.

"I guess," he mumbled.

"Hao sure is acting weird though, you think he's going to-"

"Maybe," Yoh cut him off quickly. "But Horo doesn't seem too interested anymore. I don't think anything will happen," he trailed off, glancing every now and then at the pair. "I'm not too worried about it."

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked, looking intently at Yoh, who just stared back at him.

"I'm not the one you should be asking that, Ren," Yoh replied. Ren scowled, but he did see Yoh's point- Horo should be the one telling him whatever it was that had been going on between Hao and him.

--

_AN: Next chapter: Hao Makes His Move Part Two! _

_Oh dear, whatever will he do? D! Find out next time! xD_


	6. Hao Makes His Move Part 2

_AN: Part two! No Kara in this one either… I'm too busy writing Hao as a biatch D: Poor guy, I really like him in the anime… x.x well, it can't be helped I guess xD At least I didn't make Anna evil xD _

**Chapter 6: Hao Makes His Move Part 2**

An hour later, the party was still going on. Most of the guys were sitting on the couch, remembering old times and some were standing in the kitchen, trying to find more liquor. The only sober ones were Ren, Horo, Faust and Manta- the rest were all drunk and were laughing happily at random things, mainly Chocolove _trying _to crack a joke.

Ren stood between Faust and Yoh, who were chatting about their wives. Ren occasionally answered when they asked him about his fiancée, though they noticed how he was reluctant to talk about her. Yoh couldn't blame him- he had heard stories about her from Horo and she sounded like a real witch. Poor guy. He needed to get them together soon.

"Hey guys, where's Horo?" Chocolove suddenly bounced towards them. "I need to tell him a joke about the Ainu's I made up!" Ren immediately perked up a bit, looking at the wanna-be-comedian intently as he questioned them. Yoh shrugged and looked around.

"Now that you mention it… Hao's gone too," he said. His eyes then started to widen in shock. "Oh shit!" With that, Yoh started to look frantically for Horo, closely followed by Ren who, although he didn't seem like it, was panicking slightly. Whatever had happened between Horo and Hao- it hadn't been good. "Ren, where's the bedroom?"

--

"What did you want to talk about Hao?" he asked him, arms crossed. They were standing in the bedroom, briefly forsaking the party as the brown-haired man had pulled Horo away from it, saying he needed to speak to him about something. Hao reeked of alcohol, Horo faintly noticed and everything in his body said to turn away and go back.

"I was just wonderin'," he slurred, swinging an arm around Horo's shoulder and briefly nipping on his ear. "What's up with you and the Chibi? Doesn't he know that you belong to me?" Horo looked irritated.

"I don't belong to you and I never will," Horo stated, trying to get away from Hao, though the grip was too strong for him to break free from. He knew that, when it came to strength, Horo could never win from Hao, not even when he was drunk- that was why the blue-haired boy was starting to panic when he noticed Hao wasn't letting go of him. _No… not again_, he thought as he pushed himself away. Hao chuckled.

"Is 'at so? Well, we'll see 'bout that," Hao grabbed Horo's arms and pushed the boy on the bed. Horo tried kicking, hitting, biting, screaming but Hao didn't respond to any of that and the grip only tightened. Horo's eyes were beginning to tear as his attacker hit him the face in an attempt to silence him and immediately took the opportunity to take off his pants and grin slightly at the crying boy underneath him. Oh, how he had missed it, his Ainu…

"Let me go! Hao, stop it!" Horo yelled at the top of his longs, hoping that at least someone would hear him scream, but the music was too loud… nobody would hear him. Hao groaned as one of Horo's knees made contact with his stomach and hit Horo once more, this time effectively silencing him.

"If you be a good boy now, I'll go slow for you," Hao said, smirking lightly at the widened eyes, full of fear, anger and hate. Yes, he had missed this… Horo became still, probably frozen and turned his eyes away from Hao, refusing to look at him. His attacker smirked wider and started to undress himself, occasionally kissing Horo fiercely on his lips, forcing his tongue in and claiming what he found was his. "I'll make you forget all about Ren," he whispered huskily in Horo's ear, making the latter shudder in fear. He didn't want to forget about him… he never wanted to.

_Ren… _

"Horo!"

_Ren… is that you? _

"Horo, open the goddamn door!"

_I can't… _

"Say something! What's going on? I'll break down this door!" He saw Hao looking irritably at the door, trying to figure out what to do about the interrupters. Horo blinked once and suddenly started yelling, as if he had broken from a trance.

"Ren!" he yelled, scratching Hao's back and trying to kick the boy off of him. Several loud noises followed, before the door opened with a loud 'crack', and Horo could faintly see a boy with purple hair standing in the door way and another one who resembled Hao… Hao who was on top of him, Hao who wanted to… to rape him. Horo panicked again as if it had just dawned on him and started to kick and hit frantically, finally placing an effective kick in Hao's groin.

Ren was stunned for a moment when he saw the scene in front of him; Horo, lying on the bed and Hao hovering over him, half-naked and slightly panting and sweaty from holding the boy down. It wasn't until he saw Horo panicking when he noticed that Hao's actions weren't wanted and that the bastard was forcing him to. He immediately ran over to the groaning Hao, who had been kicked in the groin by Horo, and started to punch him wherever he could, until a calm hand stopped him. He looked back and saw Yoh standing and smiling at him.

"He's already unconscious Ren, why don't you focus on Horo?" he said to him, loosening his grip on Ren's wrist, who nodded slightly. Yoh's smile then turned into an angry face and he added, "I'll take care of Hao." The Chinese boy liked the way Yoh was so calm and collected about this, though Ren knew for a fact Yoh was deeply worried- his eyes gave that away.

Ren turned towards Horo, who was lying on the bed, without a shirt, panting slightly and sweating, his eyes closed and whimpering. Ren's heart sank at the sight and he slowly walked over to Horo, placing a warm hand on his arm to let him know that he was there for him. However, Horo immediately withdrew his arm as if Ren had burned him, making the latter's eye twitch slightly in annoyance. He wasn't too good with comforting, in fact, he had never actually comforted anyone in his life.

"Horo?" he said softly, sitting down on the bed besides him. Horo just looked at him with a look of confusion gracing his face. Then came recognition and then came relief- Horo launched himself at Ren and hugged him, burying his face into Ren's purple hair; an attempt to get away from the world. Ren let him, a blush on his face as he wrapped his own arms around his teacher's waist a little uncomfortably. "It's alright," he whispered softly, rubbing Horo's back in what he hoped to be a comforting movement. They stayed like that for quite some time, until Horo stopped sobbing and fell asleep, tired from everything that had happened.

--

"Well, it seems you were right on time," Faust said, after examining Horo. "He's still suffering from the initial shock, but he'll be alright. He has some bruises on his face, but other than that, it appears nothing happened." Everybody nodded, looking at the sleeping boy on the bed.

"I think it's best if we'd go now," Yoh said, giving a glare at Hao, whose face was beaten up pretty badly. Hao glared right back at him. "I don't know what to do with him," he added, looking up at Faust for some kind of idea.

"Let's throw him off a bridge," Chocolove suggested.

"Or dump him on the way home," Manta said.

"We could shave his head!" Ryu yelled, making Hao gasp in shock. They were NOT touching his hair!

"I like the last thing," Yoh said thoughtfully, eyeing Hao, who was squirming. They had tied him up and moved him to the floor of the livingroom, giving Horo some private space. "Well, maybe Anna has some nice ideas too when we get home. The police can't do much about him anyway… I'll make sure he stays away from Horo, could you tell him that Ren?" Ren nodded solemnly at Yoh. "Could you stay with him tonight? I think he could use the company once he wakes up." Again, a nod from the younger boy, almost eager even. Yoh gave him a warm smile. "Great, it was nice meeting you Ren. Say, come visit us sometime, with Horo, 'kay?"

"It was nice meeting you too and I will," Ren replied, shaking everybody's hands as he waved them goodbye.

"Take good care of him, Ren-kun," Lyserg said, smiling. Even Ren had to admit the boy was very cute-looking. Ryu immediately glomped said boy when he smiled and was talking about how they should go to an onsen together sometime.

"I will, thanks for coming," Ren said politely.

After they were all gone, he went to the room to take a brief look at Horo, who was still sleeping. His teacher had some serious bruises on his face, one particular big one near his eye. Ren sighed and walked over to the freezer and got out some ice cubes, placing them in a thin towel and walked back towards Horo. He placed the towel with ice cubes on the bruises gently, getting a short hiss of pain from the teacher. Horo's eyes fluttered open and for a brief moment, he wondered where he was and what had been going on.

"Ren?" he murmured, recognising that purple hair and those cat-like eyes of his. He reached out for Ren's hand and took it, finding some comfort in holding something safe. "Is the party over?" he asked suddenly. Ren rolled his eyes- even after such an experience, he still had the energy to joke.

"Yes, they all went home. They were talking about shaving Hao," Ren said dryly, not really knowing if it was best to talk about Yoh's twin so freely, but did so anyway. He was relieved when he heard Horo chuckling at the comment.

"That's good. His hair is his pride, y'know," he responded, sitting up straight and looking at Ren. "Thanks, for helping me," he then said. Ren brushed it off.

"You can thank me by telling me what exactly happened between you two," he said, making Horo blink.

"I will, but let's just get comfortable first," he said, smirking slightly at the confused expression on Ren's face. He lied down on the bed, this time pulling Ren along with him and placing Ren's head on his chest. He knew it really didn't mean anything, but he now had a good excuse to get as many hugs and touches from the boy… after all, every bad thing also has its positive side, right?

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?" Ren stuttered, trying to get up. The arm around his shoulders were too strong though and he was forced to lie there- though he wasn't really complaining anymore. He was glad Horo couldn't see his face.

"What? I need the comfort!" Horo exclaimed, before his face turned serious. "Maa, I guess I have to tell you, huh? I don't like talking about it, only the guys, Anna, Tamao and my little sister know about it, I haven't told anyone about this in… five years, I think," Ren felt a little special at that and couldn't help but blush even more. "Well, truth is, I used to have a crush on Hao- yes, I like guys, hope it doesn't freak you out-" Ren shook his head, making Horo's heart skip a beat. Of course, he had somehow expected this answer, since he already had a hunch that Ren was gay as well- "Anyway, he knew about it too and… well, let's just say we got together. After one week he wanted to have, y'know, sex with me- I told him I wasn't ready for it and he got mad at me, saying he would dump me if I didn't, right? I kept refusing, but in the end, I did it, because I liked him so much at that time. I mean, I know it was the most stupid thing I have ever done in my life… but anyway, he dumped me the day after that, saying I was a 'good fuck' and all that, but wasn't anything more." Ren's grip on Horo's tightened somewhat in anger at the story.

"Weren't Yoh and the others mad at him?" he asked finally. He couldn't understand that they would actually forgive him.

"Well, some of the guys forgave him and some didn't," Horo said, shrugging. Ren remembered the cold stares Chocolove and Lyserg were continuously giving Hao during the party and now knew why. "I did too, eventually, after he apologised and started to act nice to me again. Yoh was mad at him of course, a long time actually, longer that I was myself- but they are brothers after all… though I don't know what'll happen now to us," Horo trailed off. "Well, I was over it… until tonight. Damn I was scared," he chuckled lightly as he pulled Ren closer to his body. "Thanks again," he whispered, Ren's hair tickling his neck. The Chinese boy let out a sigh in content. "Are you gonna stay here?" A short silence followed.

"Yes."

They fell asleep almost immediately, both enjoying the comfort and safety they felt in each other's presence.


	7. Misunderstandings

**Chapter 7: Misunderstandings **

It had been two weeks since the party and the normal routine for Horo and Ren had begun once again. Neither one of them spoke of that night much, except for some of the happier memories, like Yoh tripping over Ryu and thus crashing right on top of poor Manta. Yeah, that was a real happy memory.

Ren couldn't deny the fact that he had a lot of fun, being there with Horo's friends. He had felt, for the first time in his life, really at home. With, of course, the exception of the assault on Horo. It had been great for Ren, and perhaps somewhat of an eye-opener for him; Ren had always been alone, but now that he had gotten a taste of true friendship, he felt like he couldn't let it go any time soon. He was actually looking forward to visit Yoh, meet Horo's little sister and of course, Yoh's infamous wife, who seemed to be rather scary, according to everybody else.

The night he spent at Horo's he didn't quite remember. They had fallen asleep almost immediately after cuddling up to each other and the next day, Ren just woke up without the comfortable pillow underneath him, only to find said pillow standing in the kitchen making breakfast for the both of them. Ren had immediately decided that he liked waking up like that; seeing Horo's cheerful face, grinning at him as he was stepping out of bed, having breakfast together and then walking towards their classroom…

For Horo it was the same- he couldn't remember ever sleeping _without _Ren in his bed, nor did he want to remember. He loved the scent and warmth and everything else that came with it. Sure, it had been caused by an awful experience- Horo had been thankful they had all stormed in before it was too late- but what that experience had given him in return was wonderful.

Horo shrugged as he was walking down the hallway, trying to stop thinking about the boy and trying to focus on whatever Kara wanted to talk to him about. She had sent Lili up to his quarters to go and fetch him (Horo therefore felt much like a dog, though Kara probably thought he was one anyway) and found himself standing in front of Ren's fiancée's room, trying to figure out _why _she had summoned him and what she wanted with him.

"Come in," the familiar voice of Kara spoke, after Horo had knocked the door. He opened it and saw her sitting beside a small, round table in front of a big window looking over the garden. There were two cups of tea standing on the table and, across from where Kara was sitting, was an empty chair. "Please, Horo-sensei, sit down," she said, smiling at him as he crossed the room and reached the chair, obliging her commands. "Tea?" Horo nodded slowly, still wondering what the hell she wanted from him. Several moments were spent in silence as Kara sipped from her cup, before Horo decided to simply ask her.

"If it's not rude of me to ask, Kara-san," he started, slightly tugging at the collar of his shirt. "Why did you ask me to come here?" She placed her cup on the table and her smile- which was very creepy- grew even wider.

"I'm glad you ask that, Horo-sensei," she said. She grabbed some papers out of a bag standing next to the table and showed them to Horo. "As any good wife should do, I was wondering if you were qualified enough to teach my future husband and therefore I looked up some things concerning your past, education and such." Horo's eyes widened briefly, but tried his best to look curious, to not show that he knew what she was talking about. That seemed to be the best option. Damn. He _knew _someone was going to found out about it soon. She clicked her tongue as she looked over the papers. "Really, Horo-_sensei_, it seems as though you think the Tao's are fools. A history of stealing? Attending a low class _public _school? It's absurd, even ridiculous! To think that you could ever teach Ren- you aren't even qualified enough to clean his _shoes_!" At this point, Horo was fuming with anger. That little brat! She laughed triumphantly at the man sitting opposite of her.

"Are you done then? Are you going to show this to his parents then?" he asked her through gritted teeth. She shrugged, a smirk plastered on her pretty face.

"No, not yet. I'm having too much fun with this," she said. "Blackmailing is fun, especially blackmailing one so stupid and naïve."

"What do you mean with that?" Horo glared at her. Stupid and naïve? He might not be the smartest one around, but he certainly was not stupid, nor was he naïve.

"You actually think Ren cares for you, don't you? You think he likes you? Don't think I never see the looks you give him, I've watched you two for quite some time now," she sneered at him, grinning at his widened eyes in pleasure. She was getting the perfect reaction… the one she had been expecting. "That's one of the things I demand you do, while you are still here," she added. "I don't want him to pay you any more evening-visits. I want you to make him think that you hate him," she continued. "I want you to tell him that he should be having dinner with _me _every evening and don't think I won't know it if he spends those evenings with you, there's a security camera in front of your door," she paused, eyes showing her obvious anger. "And don't think I didn't see it at that party of yours- Ren never came out at night, now did he? I wonder what you two did, the Tao's won't like it if they knew their son's teacher raped their son…" Horo grounded his teeth. He wanted to tell her off so badly, but she _did _have that information… if any of that every leaked out, he'd be through with the Tao's. He'd never see Ren again… but, if Ren would think Horo hated him, wasn't that much worse?

He rubbed his temples and shrugged- there _had _to be a way out of this. Horo was shrewd, he'd come up with a plan! Besides, he had Anna- she had always been wonderful in coming up with plans. He'd work something out, but for now, he just had to keep his temper.

"What else do you want?" he asked her. She smirked back at him.

"That's it for now. Do as you're told and your stay with the Tao's could be long, but if you disobey, you'll be in deep trouble. You can go now, Horo-_sensei_," she added the last part in mock. Horo stood up, fists clenched by his side as he exited the room. As soon as he was out, he punched one of the walls in anger, his face red from it.

"My, aren't we aggressive today," Ren said, smirking lightly, though concern obvious in his eyes. Horo looked up, anger immediately vanishing and being replaced with guilt. It had dawned on him that he had also lied to Ren- not just his parents. He had lied to everybody about his education. His face softened slightly.

"Ren, please come with me," Horo said, anger still apparent in his voice. Ren nodded in confusion, but followed his teacher and friend anyway.

Once they were inside Horo's quarters, they both sat down on the comfortable couch. Horo turned to him, seriousness written all over his face and Ren couldn't help but feel his heart pounding in his throat- was there something going on? Maybe he was leaving… Ren shrugged that thought off quickly- no, even if he was leaving, he'd never let him.

"Ren, there's something I have to tell you," Horo started, looking intently at Ren. The latter's heart began to pound even faster. Ren had seen a lot of movies where people said something like that and it would always be bad news- maybe he really was leaving! But he couldn't, Ren wouldn't let him, Horo couldn't leave! Maybe his father would listen to Ren and force Horo to stay with them. "I've-"

"I'll talk to Father for you!" Ren suddenly exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, causing Horo to look at him in confusion.

"Wh-wait, you _know_?" Horo asked in disbelief- how could Ren know it? Had he also been getting information on the Ainu without him knowing? But Ren had never confronted him with it.

"Of course I _know_!" Ren yelled in annoyance. "How can I not know? You think I'm just letting you leave like that!"

"…What?" Horo stared at him, unsure of what to say. Had he hit his head or something?

"…You're not leaving?"

"No, of course not." Ren gaped at him slightly, before sitting down besides Horo and coughed nervously.

"Well, carry on then," he said. Horo shrugged lightly, while Ren was silently cursing the damn movies Horo always made him watch.

"Remember how your grandfather was so impressed with my résumé?" Horo asked him, looking at the floor and fumbling nervously with the cloth of his shirt. Ren slowly nodded his head. "And remember me telling you about Anna? And how she always had these little schemes?" Again, he nodded slowly, having an idea of where this was heading. "Well, I mean, it wasn't my idea exactly, but, y'know…" he took a deep breath before continuing, "IneverreallystudiedatahighclassuniversityinamericaannamadeitallupwithoutmeknowingbutIneededajob," he said all at once. Ren blinked at him.

"What?" Horo took a deep breath again.

"I never studied in a university in America," he said, slower this time. Ren nodded. "I needed a job, so Anna lied for me and changed my résumé." Again, a nod. Horo blinked. "You're not mad at me?" Ren just shrugged.

"I already knew," he pointed out. "Well, I didn't exactly have any proof, but I never believed any of those stories grandfather told me about you. Especially after seeing you," he smirked lightly at Horo, who glared at him. He then let out a sigh of relief. "But why are you telling me this now?" he asked, eyeing him suspiciously. "Did somebody else find out?" Horo nodded.

"Yeah, that was one of the reasons," he replied. "Kara knows and, when I came out of her room today, I also started to realise that I was lying to you and I didn't want to do that anymore," Horo said honestly. "That was the main reason, but Kara kind of made me see that."

"Is she going to tell Father?" Ren asked hurriedly, concern in his eyes. If that… bitch would rat him out, he was going to kill her. Woman or not- she would pay. Horo shook his head.

"No, not yet anyway. She told me she wanted me to tell you that I hate you and that you can't visit me in the evenings anymore. She wants you to have dinner with her every night." Out of all of this, Horo found that this thing hurt him the most- as if somebody was screwing his heart out of his chest, slowly and painfully. Ren looked at him with wide eyes, horrified. "But don't worry, I'll figure something out," Horo mumbled. "I got myself into this mess after all. Damn, I should've never listened to Anna," he added, more to himself than to the boy sitting next to him, who immediately wore a hurt expression on his face.

"I see," he murmured, standing up from the couch. Horo blinked at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Usui-sensei." The Chinese boy was about to close the door, when he heard his name being called.

"Ren, wait!" Ren didn't want to pay attention to it, so tried closing the door, but noticed that Horo's foot had been placed in front of it. "What the hell just happened? Did I say something wrong?" Ren scowled at him, crossing his arms.

"Do you regret coming here?" he asked Horo finally.

"W-what?"

"Do you regret coming here? Regret meeting me?" Horo mouthed an 'oh', finally realising what he had said and mentally kicked himself for it. He grabbed Ren's hand and pulled him back inside the room and, without really knowing what he was doing, wrapping his arms around the slightly shorter boy's waist, pulling him close.

"I'd never regret that," he said softly. Ren pulled back and smirked at him.

"Good. Now let's find a way to get you out of this mess. I already have an idea." Horo immediately perked up a bit. "But… we have to be able to stay in touch, without her knowing it. Does she have a way of seeing you?" Horo nodded.

"Yeah, she said she had placed a security camera outside my door so she could see whether or not you'd go to my room." Ren nodded.

"I don't think she has placed anything in your room, you lock it when you go to class right?" Horo nodded. "Well, only you have the key to these quarters, so she couldn't have gotten in unless it was when you were gone and left the room unlocked."

"I only leave it unlocked in the evening so you can come in," Horo said. Ren blushed lightly at the comment, which sounded almost _flirtatious_, but shrugged it off and concentrated on the task at hand.

"Here's what we're going to do then…"

And no, you can't hear the rest, because that's how they always do it in movies; whisper so the audience can't hear what they're up to! And yes, I do realise this is actually written, but that is besides the point.

The rest of the evening was spent in discussing their plan.

--

_AN: -gasp- I wonder what they're going to do! D!_


	8. Succes!

**AN:** Well, chapter 8! Hehe o.o I hope I haven't let you down with their masterplan x.x

* * *

**Chapter 8: Succes!**

They had finished their plan and would start on it immediately. Horo had to admit, almost nothing could go wrong.

Almost.

But then again, the chance of things going wrong was very slim—Ren told him his plans were always flawless, so Horo decided to just believe him and go ahead with it. After all, he hardly had anything to lose; he'd just get fired, in the worst case scenario, but if he would just go ahead and did nothing, he'd end up the same way anyway.

The first stage of their plan was communication. They had to find a way to communicate without Kara's knowing—Horo had immediately brightened and grabbed two walkie-talkies from his bedroom (why Horo had them in the first place is still unknown, Ren didn't bother to ask). They could now talk while being fifty metres apart from each other, without the chances of anybody hearing them.

The second stage… well, you'll find that out now.

Dressed in some of Ren's baggier clothes (they were tight on Horo, since he was slightly broader and taller), Horo carefully followed Ren and Kara. He had a brown hat on, to cover his hair and regular glasses—in other words, Horo was going undercover. Which he thought was pretty cool, since he felt kind of like a detective, though he had protested on using Ren's clothes. Ren had told him that Horo's own clothes were too bright and would draw a lot of attention—the Ainu reluctantly complied. Then he complained about the hat and Ren explained that his blue hair would stick out, so again, Horo reluctantly complied.

Ren had told him that Kara always goes out with some friends on Saturday-evenings, but always came home as drunk as Yoh was when he had been running naked through Funbari Onsen. He also told him that wasn't the only thing Kara was doing, or, he thought it wasn't. Apparently, Kara had a history of using and selling drugs, which Ren's parents didn't know either and, if they found out, would never approve.

Horo shook his head—he thought this was a bit over exaggerated, but then again, the little brat had threatened and blackmailed him…

Horo grinned slightly to himself as he carefully followed them in his car. They had taken Ren's limousine (Horo was offended when he found out Ren had his own limousine) and the Ainu went in his own car, staying nearby. They drove into the city and the limousine stopped in front of a club, obviously meant for only the rich and gorgeous, and he saw Ren stepping out, holding the door for a way-too-anxious Kara, who immediately latched herself on his arm.

Horo parked across the street and walked over to the man standing in front of the club. Ren had given him a fake ID, stating that he was actually the Tao's bodyguard, and he was easily let in by the guy who resembled Tarzan.

Horo had never seen such a place—mainly because he didn't like going out to drink and dance. He was always the kind of person who liked to stay at home and party or go to the theatres—crowded places were a no-no, to Horo. The club was filled with all kinds of gorgeous and young people, sitting in booths, dancing around the pole that stood in the centre (Horo scrunched his nose in disgust as he saw Kara grinding up against the pole—Horo still saw her as a girl with pretty, innocent white dresses) or ordering a _lot _of drinks by the bar. Horo could vaguely read on the notice board that sex was allowed after two a.m., provided that you don't undress all the way.

In one word: disgusting.

At least, that's what Horo thought of it. Not that he was a prude or anything, but he still considered sex to be something between two people in a private area, not in a club when both of them had just drunk their bodyweight in liquor and people are _watching._

Horo slid into one of the few empty booths and watched Ren stand awkwardly in the middle while Kara was now grinding against _him._ Horo fumed with anger, but managed to keep himself from strangling the girl as she came a bit too close with her lips to his face—Horo begged Ren to hurry it up.

"Can I get you anything?" a waitress came up to him and asked, eyeing Horo with slight interest (though it might have been fake—Horo didn't really know nor did he care). She barely wore anything, Horo noted, and if he had been straight, he probably would've drooled at the sight. She pouted when she noticed Horo had no interest in her.

"Just a coke please," he told her politely, clenching his fist while he saw Kara dancing _way_ to close to Ren. The latter looked around, obviously searching for Horo and gave him an apologetic look when he finally found him. It somehow reassured Horo and his anger dimmed slightly. But not much. The waitress came back with his coke after a couple of minutes and tried to get his attention, but to no avail—Horo barely even noticed her. Defeated, she went back to do her job, leaving Horo in peace and jealousy.

_Finally_, Ren took Kara to sit in the booth next to Horo's, making sure she didn't notice Horo sitting next to them. Now, phase three would commence. The Ainu had an earplug in his ear, while Ren had the microphone taped on his chest, so Horo could hear and record everything they would say. They chatted about unimportant things (like Kara buying new dresses, Kara going to parties, Kara this, Kara that and a little more about Kara), before a waitress brought them their drinks. The girl drunk the alcohol like a thirsty horse, Horo noted, and it wasn't too long until Kara started to mutter nonsense.

"So, Rennie," she giggled, her head resting on Ren's shoulder. "How 'bout we make things a little more fun, huh?" Ren pretended that he didn't know what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?" he asked. She giggled some more.

"I mean, I have some things that'll help loosen you up, silly!" she smacked him on the head and again, giggled. She took out a small bag from her purse, containing a white substance—Horo looked at it good and gestured Ren to ask what it was. The latter nodded.

"What's that, Kara dear?" He took out his sweetest and most innocent voice, looking directly and expectantly at her. She giggled. Again.

"It's heroine, duh!" she exclaimed, almost dropping the little bag. "What did you think it was? _Milk?_" Horo's heart started to beat faster—they got her! Hell yeah! He had the urge to go over to that pole and do a little victory dance, but he suppressed it and instead took a sip of his coke, grinning like an idiot. Not two minutes later, the same waitress returned to him and actually shoved herself on his lap, grinning seductively at him.

"You're kind of cute," she said huskily in his ear. "You know, it's after two, we could…" the rest of the sentence faded as she pressed her lips on his hungrily and her hands started to wander to the south, unbuttoning Horo's pants slowly. Horo's eyes widened—he was being raped by a girl! (Yes, it is over exaggerated, but that's how the mind of our favourite Ainu works…) Before he could try to push her off of him, she was actually pulled away. By none other than Ren.

"Don't touch him," he hissed angrily at her, who held her hands up in response, looking a bit irritated.

"What are you? His boyfriend? I've seen you sitting with _her_—" she waved at the now passed-out-Kara. "—All evening, so why don't you screw her while she's asleep and let me work on the cutie." Ren fumed and grabbed Horo's wrist, ignoring the waitress entirely. She shrugged and grinned at Horo, giving him a wink. "Ah well, my break is almost over anyway."

"Come on Horo," Ren muttered, pulling him towards the exit, still looking like he could murder someone any second. Horo gave a look at Kara over his shoulder.

"What about her?" he asked him.

"We'll take your car and she can go back with the limousine," Ren said, shrugging. "Besides, we have what we need." Horo grinned at Ren happily.

"Hey Ren, were you just jealous? You were, weren't you!"

"W-what!" Ren spluttered, a blush creeping up on his cheeks. "Of course I wasn't! Where the hell did you get that idea?" Horo wiggled his eyebrows in response.

"Why, are you _blushing_ Ren?" Before the poor Chinese boy could say anything in response, Horo started singing. "You love me, you love me! You want to kiss me, you want to hug- Ouch! You can't hit your teacher Ren!"

Ren just kept on walking.

* * *

**AN:** Short o.o… But nyah, I felt like this was a good point to stop for now x.x Next chapter: Horo and Ren blackmail Kara and go off to visit Yoh and the others at Funbari Onsen X3 


	9. Omgwtf!

**AN:**Well, the ninth chapter! Enjoy it x3

* * *

**Chapter 9: Omgwtf!**

Horo was slightly nervous about this whole thing. What if it didn't work? What if she didn't fall for it? What if she would tell En anyway? Horo would be so screwed. Horo would never see Ren again. That was probably the main reason why he didn't want this to fail. And there had been so many things that could've gone wrong…

Horo shrugged. Everything had worked out—Kara hadn't remembered anything of the night, the tape had been loud and clear where Kara confessed about the heroine and they didn't get caught. It had gone perfect. Now they all needed to confront Kara about this—which was why they were currently in Kara's chambers.

With the tape in his hand, Ren stood over her, smirking lightly at the confused expression on her face. Horo stood a little uncomfortably, though satisfied with the results of their previous evening. Kara seemed to be a little fazed, probably a hang-over from all the liquor she had consumed, but looked at the little black tape with a small amount of fear in her eyes.

"You know what this is, Kara-dearest?" Ren asked her, pulling out his sweetest voice. The fear in Kara's eyes had quickly been replaced with a daring look.

"It's a tape," she stated. Ren smirked.

"Correct. Do you know what's on this tape?" Kara shrugged. Horo grinned a little—Ren was obviously enjoying it. And to be honest, Horo was enjoying it a lot as well, even though it might be… mean. But then again, Kara was no angel either—people get what they deserve in the end and this was no exception. "Remember last night? I'm sure you don't." Kara shook her head, still that cold and daring look in her face. "On this tape, you admit that you are using drugs, you even offer me some." Kara's eyes widened briefly.

"And your point is?" Ren's smirk spread some more.

"It has come to my attention that you were, in fact, blackmailing my teacher. Correct?" She didn't respond. "I'll take that as a 'yes'. Now, I'll not show this to my parents, nor yours or the police for that matter, as long as you listen to _our_—" he gave a pointed look at Horo. "—demands."

"I'm listening."

"First of all, you let Horo teach me in peace. You'll not threaten him anymore and you'll allow us to have dinner together," she nodded mutely. Horo's inner-chibi started dancing—the plan worked! Now we could— "And secondly," Horo blinked; even he didn't know Ren was up to something more. "You will announce to my father that you do not wish to marry me." Kara blinked once, letting the last words sink in, before she started to form obvious fake tears.

"B-but Ren!" she wailed, throwing herself at him. Ren scowled in annoyance, but let her continue. "You're my love, my one, true love! You can't leave me! How could you ask something like that? I thought you loved me!"

"Stop crying," Ren snapped. "You only agreed to marry me because you like my money and I didn't even have a say in this. You do. Go find some other man who really loves you." Kara pulled herself away from him and looked him in the eyes.

"You're serious," it was more of a statement than a question. Ren nodded. "You know En's going to kill you, right?" Again, Ren nodded. Horo just blinked at the softness of her voice and the way she actually sounded… caring. She sighed and looked over at Horo, before she whispered in Ren's ear. Horo couldn't hear it—Ren was thankful for that. "Is he really worth it?"

To Horo's surprise, he saw Ren smile at her and nodding. She remained serious.

"Well, I suppose it's for the best," she said, shrugging. "Some other guy proposed to me anyway. Head of a famous record-company, lots and lots of money. He has his own island you know." Ren sighed in exasperation.

"Money isn't everything Kara," he told her. She nodded.

"I know, that's why I didn't accept his proposal," she said cheerfully. "I really did like you, you know. Well, get out of my room so I can prepare my speech for my parents and En. My parents won't be a problem since I'll be marrying someone richer instead, but I don't think your father'll be happy with this." She shoved them both out of her room and slammed the door shut, leaving Horo confused to say the least.

"Ren," he started, slowly. "She was… nice." Ren gave him a blank look, before heading towards Horo's quarters.

"She has her moments," he said. "She's not all bad, I guess. We've known each other since we were five and she's been obsessed with money ever since we were little. She was a spoiled brat—"

"Kind of like you?"

"—and wanted to marry me because I had a lot of money. I guess she did started to like me after a while. She became clingy and jealous of everyone… which was annoying. And then of course, the whole drugs and liquor thing." Horo nodded. "It's not exactly her fault, more like her parents. I think part of why she wanted to marry me so desperately was so she could get away from them."

"Really? But I thought they spoiled her?" Horo asked, again looking confused. Ren shrugged.

"They did, but they were also… well, they hit her a lot—she always came to me covered in bruises when we were little. I think she's only doing those things just to spite them."

"But… if she's nice, then why did we have to go through all of that trouble?" Ren shrugged again.

"She wouldn't have gotten it through her thick skull if we hadn't. She honestly thought I liked her too."

Horo nodded, now vaguely feeling guilty about what they did.

* * *

"Hey Yoh! How's it going, buddy?"

"Horo! Doing good here, what about you?"

"Pretty much the same. I have the week off next week, y'know, so I was thinking about going to Hokkaido for a couple of days."

It had been a month since the Kara ordeal—Kara had married the guy she was talking about the next week and had been spending her time on his private island (she had sent them a card with a picture of said island—Horo had drooled at the sight). Between Horo and Ren things had still been the same. Horo taught Ren, Ren learned happily and they both would spend their evenings together.

The Ainu liked it that way, even though there were only minor touches; hands brushing against each other, occasionally throwing an arm on the other's shoulder. Horo wanted more, but he didn't want to pressure or scare Ren away.

"Why don't you come stay with us?" Yoh asked curiously. Horo blinked.

"Can I? Won't Anna throw me out?" Yoh chuckled.

"Of course not. She may not ever say this, but she kind of misses you." Horo snorted.

"Yeah, I bet. She misses the way I would always clean that house, you mean!" His friend laughed.

"That too. Anyway, I know she doesn't mind, I already asked her last week. You can invite Ren if you like." Horo blinked. A week. With Ren. Away from the terrible house. Hell yeah!

"Okay! I'll let you know if Ren comes with me."

"I'm sure he will. I had already invited him during the party," Yoh chuckled.

"Really?" Horo sounded surprised. "So you guys liked him, huh?"

"Sure. A bit on the quiet side, but he seemed nice enough. Just… one thing Horo. Hao's staying with us as well." Horo blinked, his heart pounding louder as he thought about that evening, barely a month ago. "But don't worry, I think you'd love to see him again. Trust me on this one Horo."

"Just… as long as he stays away from me Yoh, make sure he doesn't come near me."

"Don't worry about it Horo, like I said, you'll love seeing him again." Horo noticed Yoh was grinning through the phone and he couldn't help but wanting to see Hao—whatever it was, it must be something good.

* * *

It turned out that Ren was willing to tag along to Funbari Onsen. Even though Ren had insisted that they took the limousine, Horo had declined the offer—he liked his own car and didn't feel like sitting in the back of the black, slick limousine for two hours. Ren had scowled, told Horo that there was no way he'd go in his twenty-year old Volkswagen and then continued to pout. _Pout!_

Horo had almost thrown in the towel since Ren looked irresistible, but he had done the 'pout-method' all the time with his friends and family, so he was practically immune to cute looks. Eventually, Ren had agreed to go with him and Horo grinned at him happily.

"Horo! Ren!" Chocolove bounced happily over to the pair when they had arrived. Horo was (pleasantly) surprised when he saw that most of his friends had turned up and gave Yoh a questioning look when he came outside.

"Hey Horo, Ren," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Anna and I decided to just invite everybody. Well, Anna did the deciding… I just did the agreeing. She didn't want to clean the place up." Ren scowled. "Oh! That reminds me. Hao!" Yoh sung his brother's name, laughing and grinning.

"_He's_ here?" Ren hissed at Horo. He just blinked at him, wondering briefly what he was talking about.

"Hao? Oh! I forgot to tell you," he replied, rubbing his neck.

Then they focused on the person who emerged from the big house and they both became silent. Hao.

They had actually done it.

They had shaved his head! Where once his beautiful hair was, was nothing now. His head actually shined in the sun… it was too much for Horo and he collapsed, laughing his head off. Ren was still gaping at him, pointing his index finger and Yoh grinned.

"Told you you'd like it," he said, helping the still-laughing Horo up from the ground.

Hao looked like he could murder someone.

* * *

**AN:** Omg, I've made Kara actually NICE O.O… I didn't see that one coming, honestly. Well, she's not exactly nice nice… but she's bearable O.o… and Hao's perty hair is gone x3 Ah well, he had it coming. 


	10. Cuddlebuddy

**AN: Whai! It's been some time since I updated, huh? O.o Well, I hope I'll make it up with this chapter! **

**HoroRen fluffiness begins! X3! **

* * *

**Chapter 10: Cuddlebuddy **

"Say, that sun is shining in my eyes, could someone give me some sunglasses? Oh, wait, it's Hao's head!"

Enter the Hao-death-glare. His glare became worse when he saw Chocolove bouncing out of the house.

"Hey, guys! You know what? Hao is so bald, you can see what's on his mind!" Now, normally, nobody would've laughed at that, but since this situation was so extraordinary, everybody roared with laughter, with the exception of Hao of course. "Wait, wait! I've got another one," Chocolove yelled excitedly. "Hao's so bald, that when he took a shower, he got brain-washed!" Everybody broke out in laughter again, including Ren. Chocolove grinned at his audience. "Hao is so bald, that even a wig doesn't help!"

Stop laughter. Chocolove blinked.

"That wasn't funny, Choco," Yoh said, patting said boy on the shoulder.

They were still standing outside—most of their friends had came out of the rather large house (though no where near as large as Ren's house) and had greeted them cheerfully, Hao just standing underneath a tree eyeing Horo shamelessly still, even though they kept making jokes about his lack of hair.

He noticed faintly that the two men who had arrived, kept standing close to each other, both of them now and then brushing arms, or touching each other in an other subtle manner. Hao felt a surge of jealousy running through him—how dare that filthy Tao take _his_ Ainu!

He didn't know why he felt so attracted to the other boy—perhaps it was his odd colour hair, or the fact that he was so carefree and happy, or maybe because he had a fiery temper. The latter was the most probable—Hao had the hobby to break people. He hadn't managed that with Horo yet, so he had to find away to do so.

The only problem was _him_. The Tao.

It apparently seemed that they weren't together yet, but Hao knew Horo's taste—opposites attract, like they said. Ren seemed to be a very composed guy, quiet, calm, passive. Horo was the happy, energetic one of the two and they apparently balanced each other out. Hao felt like he was kind of like Ren, only he knew that Ren didn't have that psychotic touch Hao had. Next to that, the Tao was, judging by appearance this time, completely Horo's type—smaller, slim though muscled and he had beautiful eyes.

Hao sighed—it was either choosing between his brother and all of his friends or breaking Horo.

He decided to go with his brother this time, but he wouldn't be rooting for Ren either.

Horo and the Tao both looked up as three girls emerged from the house, one of them having bright blue hair and resembling Horo a lot. She was shorter and seemed to like to wear light pink clothes. Ren blinked as she rushed towards Horo and tackling him to the ground.

"Brother!" she yelled excitedly, hugging him tightly. Ren raised an eyebrow at the display, but couldn't help be amused by the two siblings hugging, squealing and mock-fighting.

He looked over to the other two girls, who were much more calmer. There was one girl with pink bubblegum hair and one with blonde hair, a bored expression gracing her face. By the time they had arrived, Horo had pushed off his little sister and blinked at the blonde woman.

"A-Anna!" he yelled. "You're so fat!"

Ren never knew someone could fly so far from just one punch. Though he couldn't blame the woman really—it was obvious she was simply pregnant, but Ren knew the Ainu was as ignorant as a tree.

"Ouch," Horo muttered, rubbing his cheek. "Oh! Ren, you haven't met these three, right? The blonde, fa—I mean, the blonde girl is Anna, Yoh's wife, and she—" Horo pointed at the pink-haired girl. "—is Tamao, and the obnoxious blue-haired girl over there is Pilica! My little sister," he added, grinning and messing up said sister's hair.

"I take it Yoh hasn't told you about my pregnancy then?" Anna said, raising an eyebrow. Horo blinked.

"Wha! You're pregnant! Yoh, how could you not tell me about that! How the hell did that happen! When!" Yoh blinked.

"Well, I can't exactly tell you when, but I can tell you how it happe—"

"Shut up, that was a rhetorical question!" Horo huffed. Ren just looked amused by the antics and felt… something. He couldn't quite place it, but it felt sort of relaxed, comfort. It felt as though he was home, for some reason. He looked at how the idiot-Ainu was bouncing up and down and touching Anna's stomach, jumping and squealing in glee as he apparently had felt the baby move. Anna didn't seem to mind, she seemed to even enjoy it and Ren found that she wasn't as bad as the others had told him, though she did have her scary moments.

The rest of the evening was simply a party—Ren enjoyed it again, even the female company, with the exception of Pilica who kept latching herself onto his arm and giggling about how Horo had told her that he was cute, but hadn't expected him to be this hot. Ren had blushed, but not because of her—but because Horo had called _him _cute. His heart had skipped a beat at the thought and after that confession of Pilica, he kept glancing at Horo who seemingly couldn't get enough of touching Anna's tummy and every time he did so, he couldn't help but smile a bit at the childish behaviour.

He had a feeling this 'crush' wouldn't go away any time soon.

"So, are you two together yet?" Ren hadn't noticed that, when Pilica had gone away briefly to see how Tamao was doing, that Hao had walked up to him. Ren's eyes narrowed dangerously at the bald-headed man.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hao," Ren grumbled, crossing his arms and staring out the window. They really did have a beautiful view in Funbari Onsen—it was a great way to see the stars. Hao smirked slightly.

"I mean, has he fucked you yet?" Ren didn't really know how to respond, so he ignored the comment and decided to go immediately into defense-mode.

"Get away from me now, Hao," he growled. "And stay away from Horo to. If I ever find out that you touched him with your filthy hands again, I will not hesitate to kill you. That's a promise," he said, while grabbing the collar of Hao's shirt. Said boy's smirk faded.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Do you know who doesn't care?" Ren responded, letting go of the shirt. "I've warned you. Don't mess with him any more." Hao narrowed his eyes, but decided to leave the kid alone and go up to his room—the others were glaring at him anyway and he didn't want them to get even more angry.

* * *

It was three hours after his encounter with Hao and he found himself lying in bed together with Horo. They didn't have any rooms, so Horo and Ren had decided to sleep in the same room, in the same bed.

"Ren?" Horo asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"Do you… want to cuddle?" Ren frowned.

"What?" He could faintly see Horo blink, the light of the moon shining in his blue eyes. Ren swallowed.

"Cuddle, you know?" Ren just gave him a blank expression. "I'll show you," Horo then added, grinning slightly. Ren blinked and before he knew it, Horo had his arms wrapped around him and pulled him against his chest. Ren wasn't really protesting, but he wasn't encouraging this either—he had to try hard to refrain himself from humping the blue-haired boy. Ren swallowed again when he felt Horo tangling their legs together. "I love to cuddle like this," Horo said, letting out a deep chuckle. "I always sleep so well," he continued to mumble on. Ren felt himself getting drowsier just by his voice and his eyes slowly closed themselves—Horo was right, this was nice.

He had never been the touch-type, but he found himself liking this. It was probably because it was with Horo.

"Ren?" the Ainu asked. Ren groaned and wished his teacher would just shut up.

"Hm?"

"Are you… in love with me?" Ren eyes flew open and he found himself scrambling out of Horo's grasp.

"W—what the hell! What makes you say that!" he spluttered. Horo raised an eyebrow.

"Am I wrong?"

"No! I mean, yes!" Ren blinked. "Oh, crap…" he muttered. Horo chuckled deeply and pulled the embarrassed boy back near him, against his chest. "Do you—I mean, are you in love with me?"

"Yup," he replied firmly. Ren allowed himself to relax slightly.

"It can never work," he muttered softly. "Father… won't allow it." Ren felt Horo nod in agreement, as he felt himself getting drowsier yet again. It was amazing how the man's touch could make him feel so relaxed.

"Unless we elope," Horo suggested, chuckling slightly at the thought. Ren snorted. "Your father… isn't here right now," he added, pulling away slightly from the embrace. Ren looked at him with a frown on his face as Horo's lips came dangerously close to his.

"Horo, don't," he murmured. "If you do that, I won't be able to go back." But Horo didn't listen and instead pressed his lips firmly against the squirming boy besides him. He needed this, needed to touch him. He knew he couldn't have him, but he needed it.

Ren whimpered softly, though making absolutely no effort to push him away and, after a couple of seconds, he even began to move his mouth against Horo's, wrapping his arms around the man's neck and pulling him closer.

They pulled back, panting slightly and pressed their foreheads together.

"Ren…" the Ainu murmured softly. Ren didn't know how to respond, so he said nothing, still in trance from their previous activity. He didn't know how to feel now—the kiss, it had felt needy, as if Horo _needed _and _wanted him_. And Ren felt the same way. "Let's get some sleep," Horo continued softly, pulling the boy in another embrace. Ren complied happily and rested his head against the other's chest.

Whatever thought had bothered him about the impossibility of their relationship, was gone and he instead focused on the present.


	11. Stay With Me

**AN: **I think I'm going to wrap things up. I might make this the last chapter and I probably will write an epilogue. Consider this for now an open ending… I know, I usually hate them too, but I don't want to write some sappy ending where they both run away towards the sunset and live happily ever after XD. So, I've decided to make an open one where you can just imagine what will happen next x3.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Stay With Me**

They awoke in each other's arms, Horo giving Ren a small kiss on his forehead as they both relished in the warmth of their bodies pressed against each other. Horo felt as if he was in heaven, just lying there with Ren, but he knew it would soon be over as they needed to go back tomorrow. To his father, to their prison.

Horo wanted nothing more than to stay there forever, but he knew the younger boy would never agree to such a thing (nor would Anna, for that matter)—he knew Ren loved his family and he would never choose Horo above them. The Ainu cursed his luck for falling for him.

" 'Morning," Horo mumbled sleepily, looking out the window where sunlight was pouring through. He just got a grunt in reply. "Not a morning person, eh?" Horo chuckled at Ren, who had smacked him on the head and tried to cuddle closer to him, clinging himself to Horo's chest.

"Shut up, I want to sleep," he muttered. The Ainu decided not to say anything more and just enjoy the moment for now, slightly chuckling as Ren's hair tickled his neck.

Two hours later, they both walked downstairs where Manta had already made breakfast for them and was seated at the kitchen table, along with most of the others. The only two missing were Lyserg and Ryu, which Horo found a little odd but also very interesting. They all said 'good morning' to each other, before sitting down as well.

Ren looked slightly uncomfortable—even though everyone treated him as if he was practically family, he still felt like a complete stranger. He was in a strange house, of course, and he was more free than at home—he sat as stiff as a board at the table. Horo had to chuckle lightly, before telling him he could relax.

Ren did so and gave the blue-haired man a small smile, which was returned happily. Yoh watched the display with a knowing smirk.

"Had a good night, you two?" he asked them. Ren narrowed his eyes, Horo coughed and looked away, but both couldn't really hide the small blush that crept onto their cheeks.

After breakfast, Yoh decided he needed to have a little chat with his friend and took him upstairs to his own room, letting out a small chuckle at Ren's offended face as they went upstairs.

"He's really possessive, isn't he?" Yoh asked him. Horo laughed and nodded. "You should've seen him when Hao… well, you know. He was furious."

"Yeah, he really hates him," Horo replied. "Well, not that I like him of course… but, anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"About your relationship with Ren," Yoh replied, flopping on the bed. Horo frowned, before flopping down himself, next to Yoh. "I mean, how is it going?" The Ainu sighed and put his arms behind his head.

"It's… complicated," he concluded. Yoh chuckled lightly.

"Love always is."

"No it isn't," Horo replied, shaking his head. "Just this one is. I love Ren and I'm pretty sure Ren loves me, though he hasn't said it," Horo thought about it for a moment. "Actually, he did say he was in love with me… but I don't know if he _loves_ me."

"He said it?" Yoh sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I asked him," Horo laughed. "I like to be blunt about these things—saves time, y'know? Plus, I thought it was a good opportunity." Yoh nodded.

"You had sex with him then?" he asked lazily. Horo shook his head fiercely.

"No! I mean, that would be abusing him, right? I don't want to make him do anything, I felt guilty even after _kissing _him." Yoh blinked. "Yeah, well, again, it's complicated. The guy has never really had a loving family, you know? And well, I feel as if I would have gone further than that, I would abuse his trust. I mean, I don't want to hurt him," Horo concluded.

"What're you guys going to do now?" The Ainu shrugged in response.

"No idea… we haven't talked about it yet. I don't want to think about it…" Horo sighed and rubbed his temples with one arm. "Man, this is all Anna's fault!" he exclaimed. Yoh chuckled.

"Well, blame Anna all you want, but it was thanks to her that got you to meet Ren, earn that much cash and live like a king, right?" Horo gave him a quick grin, before his face turned serious again.

"True, but I was in a big mess thanks to her, almost got _raped_ by Hao and almost got _raped _a _second time _by a girl in a bar— don't ask—"

"Wasn't going to."

"—and fell in love with the most unreachable guy on the _planet_!" he finished. Yoh raised an index finger.

"No, not the most unreachable guy," he said. "You guys just have some issues to work through, that's all," Yoh continued, his voice slightly bored. "If it's true love, you guys will get together—if it's not, you'll both find someone else. It's as simple as that." Horo shrugged.

"Call me a pessimist, but I think that only works in a sappy romance novel… or one of those disgusting fics fangirls write (AN: Kya, Horo's talking about me! –squeals-)." Yoh chuckled.

"We'll see, Horo," he said. With that, the conversation was over and Horo decided to go downstairs to face his student.

* * *

That same evening, both of them spent their last night in Funbari Onsen. It was so tempting for Horo to ravish Ren right then and there, but he didn't want to rush things. He liked kissing Ren—it was soft and loving, though the Tao would occasionally make it rougher, more needed. Horo didn't complain. 

In the end though, the Ainu decided it was enough for one night as he didn't want to go any further with Ren just yet—he knew he was special and he wasn't some hormone-driven teenager anymore (though Ren was). The Tao had merely nodded, secretly cursing inside.

The next day, they drove home. Farewell was said to Yoh and their other friends, everybody hugging each other and telling them that they can stop by any time. Ren had given them a rare smile at the statement and returned the gesture, saying that he'd like to visit again when he had the chance.

"Well, let's go," Horo said, forcing a smile at Ren. The latter nodded and stepped in the passenger's seat, occasionally glancing at Horo, who looked in deep though. He frowned every now and then, sometimes even muttering something. He couldn't hear it though, so he decided to ignore it for now.

The ride back was spent in silence and it wasn't until Ren's mansion was in sight that Ren finally spoke up—a question that had been bothering both of them when they were with Yoh, but hadn't dared to ask.

"What now?" Horo didn't need to ask what he was talking about.

"I don't know. I suppose it's up to you," he replied, slightly angering Ren.

"This is your problem too," he retorted.

"I know that," Horo said, frowning. "But there's hardly anything I can do about it, right? Except maybe kidnapping you, but I think your dad'll kill me if I do that." He chuckled lightly—not so much because he thought it was funny, but because he wanted to lighten the mood a bit. It didn't work.

"Well, there's hardly anything _I _can do," Ren muttered. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Horo nod in agreement.

"We'll see," he said. "We'll see what'll happen. Yoh told me yesterday that if it was meant to be, we'll stay together. If not, then it was never meant to be."

"That's not good enough!" Ren snapped. "What if it is meant to be and the only obstacle is Father? What if I don't want anyone else?" he continued, his face turning red from either anger or from his statement—it could be both.

"I know," the Ainu responded as he drove up to the mansion and stopped his car. "I don't want anyone else either."

* * *

"Ren-sama, your father wishes to speak to you," one of the servants said as they entered the mansion. Ren nodded, his eyes narrowing. The servant bowed stiffly and turned around—as soon as he did so, Horo grabbed Ren's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. 

"Everything will be alright," he muttered. The Tao again nodded and swallowed—he wanted to believe it, he really did. Horo took his bags upstairs to Ren's room, before retreating to his own.

Ren, on the other hand, went straight to his father, wondering why he wanted to see him. The last time En had really talked to him, was a couple of months ago when he had announced that he would be getting a new tutor.

"Ren," his father said stiffly, nodding to his son in acknowledgement. The younger Tao nodded in return and sat down in the chair opposite of his father's, who was seated behind his desk. "I'll just get straight to the point, boy, because I have a lot of work to do," he continued gruffly. Again, Ren nodded. "I've decided not to arrange a marriage for you—you've messed up with Kara, so you will deal with the consequences on your own. I will not allow you to choose whoever you want—whoever she is, she will be from a rich family and she will bring honour to us. You have until Usui-sensei leaves (AN: which means he'll have a couple of months, since Horo just had to stay there for a schoolyear and… yeah o.o), if you do not succeed, I will disown you." Ren swallowed. His father would really do that? It wasn't that he was really surprised—he knew his father was harsh and probably didn't love him, but it was still hard to take something like that from his own father.

"Does Mother agree to this?" he asked him. En gave him a small nod.

"Yes, she does. Now leave, I'm busy." Ren nodded and gave him a small scowl, which luckily went unnoticed. Once outside of his father's office, he broke into a run towards Horo's chambers, didn't bother to knock and stormed inside. Horo blinked once in confusion, before he found himself lying flat on the couch, Ren on top of him and clasping his shirt. The Ainu, for a moment, was surprised, before he snaked his arms around the smaller boy's waist and rubbed his back.

"What's wrong Ren?" he asked soothingly. He knew Ren wasn't crying, or anything like that, because he wasn't a person who would cry easily, but he still needed some comforting.

"If I don't find a new fiancée in three months, Father will disown me," he replied, anger and sadness in his voice at the same time. Horo blinked once, before pulling the boy closer to him. "I don't want to find anyone," he continued. "But if I say so, Father will disown me. If I don't, I will have to marry someone… either way, I'm screwed."

Horo had by now scrunched his face in disgust at the father—what person would treat his son this way? He knew their customs were different, but still, it was weird—his tribe wasn't too fond of homosexuals either, and yet they had still accepted him and they hadn't forced him to do anything he didn't want to.

But now what? What was he supposed to do about it?

He wanted to be there for Ren, so all he could do was wait and see what would happen.

"Don't worry, we'll find a way," Horo whispered, though he wasn't totally convinced himself. "We have months ahead of us." He felt Ren nod against his chest and he gently stroked Ren's purple hair and kept on muttering in another language—Ren figured it to be the language of his tribe and though he couldn't understand any of it, he felt oddly comforted by it.

He sniffed in the Ainu's scent and let himself drift off, his eyes closing slowly as he calmed down. The gentle stroking of Horo made him feel drowsy, and so did the beating of his heart and the soft, deep voice that kept on blabbering. If it had been anybody else, Ren would've smacked him on the head, but he was used to it now.

"Horo," he muttered softly, sleepily. "Stay with me forever." There was a short pause and Ren vaguely thought he hadn't heard him. Before he drifted off into a deep slumber, he heard Horo say the two words he wanted to hear.

"I promise."

* * *

**-Owari-**


End file.
